ENTOMOLOGY  LI  B- 


I - 

5  o 

H  J 

S  = 


^      c 

8  '- 


a    a 

02 


O    =3 

W     ^2 


ff 

A  NATURE  WOOING 


AT 


ORMOND  BY  THE  SEA 


BY 

W.  S.  BLATCHLEY 

Author  of  "Gleanings  From  Nature" 

"The  morning  wind  forever  blowa,  the  poem  of  creation  is  uninterrupted; 
but  few  are  the  ears  that  hear  it." 

— Thoreau. 


INDIANAPOLIS 
THE  NATURE  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 


Copyright,  1908, 
By  W.  S.  BLATCHLEY. 


PBESS  OK 
VM.  B.  BUKFOBD 
INDIANAFOLI8 


To  the  thousands  of  tourists  who,  each  winter,  seek  the 
shelter  of  the  sunny  skies  and  the  companionship  of  the  roaring 
surf  at  "Ormond  by  the  Sea"  this  volume  is  inscribed,  with  the 
hope  that  in  the  minds  of  some  of  them  it  may  engender  an 
acquaintance  with  and  a  friendship  for  some  of  the  more  lowly 
forms  which  there  abound. 


CONTENTS. 


SOUTHWARD  BOUND 9 

AT  ORMOND  BY  THE  SEA 23 

A  DAY  ON  THE  UPPER  ST.  JOHN'S  RIVER 196 

APPENDIX. 

A  List  of  the  Odonata  taken  at  Ormond 213 

A  List  of  the  Orthoptera  taken  at  Onnond 216 

A  List  of  the  Hemiptera-Heteroptera  taken  at  Ormond.    224 

A  List  of  the  Butterflies  taken  at  Onnond 227 

A  List  of  the  Coleoptera  taken  at  Ormond 233 


LIST  OF  PLATES. 


FACING  PAGE 

1.  The  Cabin  on  the  Tomoka Frontispiece 

2.  A  Portion  of  the  Main  Street  of  Ormond 23 

3.  The  Saw  Palmetto 26 

4.  One  of  the  Old  Spanish  Chimneys ....  37 

5.  The  Wreck  of  the  Nathan  F.  Cobb 79 

6.  A  View  on  the  Tomoka 97 

7.  Thompson's  Creek — A  Typical  Florida  Stream  ....  Ill 

8.  A  View  from  the  Tomoka  Cabin 123 

9.  A  Portion  of  the  Ormond  Shell  Mound 165 

10.  My  Main  Excavation  in  the  Ormond  Mound 175 

11.  The  Diamond  Rattlesnake 187 

12.  A  Portion  of  the  "  Old  Causeway  " 194 


MAP. 


Showing  the  St.  John's  River  and   the  Region  about 
Ormond. .  .  197 


PREFACE. 


"Go  South  and  rest  for  a  month  or  two."  Thus 
my  physician  spoke  in  the  late  winter  of  1898-'99, 
when  I  was  suffering  from  a  severe  attack  of  nerv- 
ous prostration.  Southward  I  went,  but  my  rest  was 
mainly  taken  in  the  great  hospital  of  Nature — the 
woods  and  fields  of  the  region  where  I  sojourned. 
There  I  jotted  down  facts  and  fancies  concerning 
the  animals  and  plants  about  me.  There,  at  times, 
I  indulged  in  reveries  on  other  subjects,  which,  too, 
were  scribbled  in  my  daily  note  book.  These  I  have 
incorporated,  for  the  most  part  just  as  they  were  then 
written,  in  this  little  volume. 

With  my  own  thoughts  I  have  combined  many 
statements  from  others  regarding  the  objects  which 
I  observed.  These  are  mainly  from  the  works  of 
Bartram,  Michaux,  Say  and  other  naturalists  and 
travelers  of  nearly  a  century  ago.  Their  books  are 
becoming  scarce,  but  the  objects  of  which  they  wrote 
still  abound  and  can  be  seen  or  heard  by  almost  any 
visitor  to  the  sunny  southland  who  has  an  open  eye 
and  an  ear  atune  with  nature. 

The  book  will,  I  trust,  add  something  to  what  is 
known  of  the  geographical  distribution  of  many  of 

(6) 


PREFACE.  7 

nature's  objects  mentioned  therein,  and  may  also  aid 
in  preserving  from  oblivion  some  of  the  thoughts  and 
facts  recorded  of  those  objects  by  the  observers  of 
old. 

At  a  casual  glance,  the  book  may  seem  scientific 
and  technical  in  nature,  owing  to  the  large  number 
of  Latin  names  used.  These  are,  however,  printed  in 
italics  and  may  be  readily  passed  over  without  losing 
any  part  of  the  connection,  since  they  are  almost  al- 
ways accompanied  by  the  common  name  of  the  plant 
or  animal  to  which  they  refer.  Aside  from  these 
Latin  names,  it  is  believed  that  no  portion  of  the 
book  will  be  found  unintelligible  to  the  ordinary 
reader. 

Indianapolis,  Ind.,  October  1,  1902. 


"My  heart  is  fixed  firm  and  stable  in  the  belief  that  ultimately 
the  sunshine  and  the  summer,  the  flowers  and  the  azure  sky,  shall 
become,  as  it  were,  interwoven  into  man's  existence.  He  shall 
take  from  all  their  beauty  and  enjoy  their  glory."— Jeffries. 


"I  prefer  an  oak  tree  to  a  temple;  grass  to  a  brick  pavement; 
wild  flowers  beneath  a  blue  sky  to  exotic  orchids  under  glass.  I 
would  walk  where  I  do  not  risk  being  jostled,  and,  if  I  see  fit  to 
swing  my  arms,  leap  a  ditch  or  climb  a  tree,  I  want  no  gaping 
crowd,  when  I  do  so,  to  hedge  me  in.  In  short,  I  prefer  living 
4  next  neighbor  to  Nature.'  "— 0.  C.  Abbott. 


41 1  wish  so  to  live  ever  as  to  derive  my  satisfactions  and  in- 
spirations from  the  commonest  events,  every  day  phenomena,  so 
that  what  my  senses  hourly  perceive  in  my  daily  walk  may  inspire 
me,  and  I  may  dream  of  no  heaven  but  that  which  lies  about 
me."—  Thoreau. 


(8) 


SOUTHWARD    BOUND. 


"  The  man  who  goes  alone  can  start  to-day;  but  he  who  travels  with 
another  must  wait  till  that  other  is  ready,  and  it  may  be  a  long  time 
before  they  get  off." — Thoreau. 

March  3,  1899. — This  morning  I  leave  Louisville, 
Kentucky,  southward  bound,  seeking,  as  did  Ponce 
de  Leon,  renewed  health  and  vigor  in  the  "Land  of 
Flowers."  A  heavy  mist  at  first  veils  everything 
from  view.  Occasionally  it  lifts  for  a  few  rods  back 
from  the  railway,  and  I  see  a  clump  of  Kentucky  cof- 
fee trees,  Gymnocladus  dioica  L.,  still  bearing  their 
last  year's  crop  of  thick,  chocolate  brown  pods;  or, 
perchance,  the  curly  head  and  ebony  face  of  a  smil- 
ing pickaninny  gleams  for  an  instant  through  the 
mist,  which  quickly  settles  down  about  him  as  the 
train  rushes  on. 

I  change  my  title  twice  within  twenty  minutes. 
The  Pullman  conductor,  as  he  collects  my  berth  fare, 
dubs  me  "Captain."  He  hails  from  St.  Louis,  where 
captains  are  plentiful  on  the  Mississippi  Kiver  boats. 
Shortly  comes  along  the  regular  train  conductor,  a 
portly  gentleman  from  Louisville.  True  to  his  Ken- 
tucky instinct,  he  calls  me  "Colonel."  I  am  not  pos- 
sessed of  that  universal  accompaniment  of  a  Ken- 

(9) 


10  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

tucky  Colonel,  a  bottle  of  moonshine  or  old  Bourbon 
whiskey,  but  I  have  the  next  thing  to  it,  a  flask  of 
Burgundy  wine,  so  here's  to  the  health  of  the  train 
conductor  who  raised  my  rank  on  first  sight.  Long 
may  he  live  and  prosper !  At  the  present  rate  of  pro- 
motion I  shall  be  a  Major-General  many  hours  be- 
fore I  reach  my  destination. 

Beyond  Lawrenceburgh,  a  short  distance,  the  hills 
or  bluffs  of  the  Kentucky  River  appear,  clad  in  the 
evergreen  of  the  cedar  and  the  pine.  We  cross  the 
river  on  Young's  High  Bridge  and  soon  reach  Lex- 
ington, the  second  city  in  Kentucky — the  home  of 
Henry  Clay  and  the  Breckenridges — the  heart  of  the 
famous  blue-grass  region — renowned  to-day  among 
the  elite  of  this  land  of  ours  for  its  handsome  women, 
its  famous  race-track,  its  noted  stud-farms.  Among 
men  of  letters  a  century  ago,  it  was  known  chiefly  as 
being  the  seat  of  Transylvania  University,  then  the 
most  celebrated  school  of  learning  beyond  the  Alle- 
ghanies,  but  destined  soon  to  be  overshadowed  by 
many  which  sprang  into  existence  in  Kentucky's  sis- 
ter states. 

To  naturalists,  Lexington  is  chiefly  interesting  for 
its  having  been  for  a  term  of  years  the  abiding  place 
of  that  unique  member  of  their  ilk,  Constantine  Sam- 
uel Rafinesque.  Here  he  wrote  his  "Ichthyologia 
Ohioensis,"  over  which  students  of  the  finny  tribe 
puzzled  for  50  years.  Only  recently  have  Rafines- 
que's  genera  and  species,  as  characterized  in  that 


KENTUCKY  BL  UE-  GRASS.  11 

work,  received  tlieir  just  recognition.  Indeed,  had 
not  David  S.  Jordan,  with  his  discerning  eye  and 
clear  judgment,  identified  the  species  from  the  scanty 
descriptions  of  the  "Ichthyologia,"  and  then,  con- 
trary to  the  wishes  of  many  ichthyologists,  claimed 
for  the  author,  in  accordance  with  the  rules  of  zoo- 
logical nomenclature,  his  just  deserts,  much  of 
Rafinesque's  work  would  have  been  buried  in  obliv- 
ion. 

One  sees  but  little  of  Lexington  from  the  train. 
The  Louisville  &  Cincinnati  divisions  of  the  Southern 
Railway  merge  at  this  point,  and  a  motley  crowd  of 
tourists,  seeking  also  the  sunshine  of  the  southland, 
come  into  the  sleeper  and  put  an  end  to  the  quiet 
which,  up  to  this  time,  I  have  enjoyed.  Between 
Lexington  and  Danville  the  road  runs  for  the  most 
of  the  way  through  a  limestone  region.  About  Dan- 
ville the  country  is  especially  fine.  A  few  warm  days 
have  put  new  vigor  into  the  blue-grass,  and  the  tiny 
rootlets  have  begun  to  suck  up  the  nourishment 
yielded  during  the  winter  by  the  disintegrating  lime- 
stone. Far  and  wide  the  pastures  spread,  covered 
with  that  faint  green  tinge  which  appears  in  a  blue- 
grass  region  as  one  of  the  foremost  harbingers  of  the 
coming  springtime.  Prince  among  our  native  grasses 
this — aye,  more  than  prince — the  king,  the  ruler  of 
them  all — surpassing  all  others  in  beauty  and  grace- 
fulness of  culm,  as  well  as  in  its  value  to  the  owner 
of  the  land.  James  Lane  Allen,  writing  of  it,  per- 


12  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

haps  of  that  growing  on  these  very  slopes,  has  called 
it  a  "hardy,  kindly,  beautiful,  nourishing  stock;  lov- 
ing rich  lands  and  apt  to  find  out  where  they  lie ;  up- 
rooting inferior  aborigines,  but  stoutly  defending  its 
new  domain  against  all  invaders ;  paying  taxes  wellj 
with  profits  to  boot;  thriving  best  in  temperate  lati- 
tude and  checkered  sunshine;  benevolent  to  flocks 
and  herds ;  and  allying  itself  closely  to  the  history  of 
any  people  whose  content  lies  in  simple  plenty  and 
habitual  peace — the  perfect  squire-and-yeoman  type 
of  grasses."* 

Before  reaching  Burgin  we  cross  once  again  the 
Kentucky  River  at  another  High  Bridge.    The  bluffs 

of  this  river,  wherever 
I  have  seen  it,  are  very 
high  and  precipitous, 
forming  the  walls  of  a 
rocky  gorge  which  the 
onflowing  waters  dur- 
ing hundreds  of  centu- 
ries have  slowly  eroded 
in  the  soft  limestone  of 
Fig.  i-Chipnmnk.  this  region.  The  scen- 

ery about  High  Bridge 

is  wild  and  picturesque,  and  for  a  distance  the  rail- 
way resembles  a  great  serpent,  winding  in  and  out  as 
it  follows  the  bends  of  the  stream;  its  bed  having 
been  carved  out  of  the  solid  rock  along  the  side  of  the 
bluff. 

*The  Blue  Grass  Region  of  Kentucky,  p.  1. 


SOUTHWARD  BOUND.  13 

The  fences  of  this  portion  of  Kentucky  are  mostly 
of  stone,  gray,  lichen  covered,  and  seemingly  capable 
of  withstanding  the  elements  for  centuries.  At  one 
point  I  note  a  chipmunk,  Tamias  siriatus  L.,  seated 
on  his  haunches  on  top  of  one  of  these  fences  within 
a  rod  of  the  fast  moving  train.  The  first  of  March 
sees  him  abroad  here — the  first  or  middle  of  April  in 
central  Indiana.  I  can  almost  hear  his  scolding 
"tchwk — tchwk"  as  the  train  dashes  past  him. 

About  McKinney  and  South  Fork,  in  Lincoln 
County,  we  first  strike  the  scrub  oak  thickets,  which 
mark  the  passage  from  the  limestone  region  into  one 
of  sandstone  or  mixture  of  lime  and  sand.  The  soil 
for  many  miles  thereafter  is  red  with  a  superabund- 
ance of  iron  oxide,  and  so  poor  and  rocky  that  one 
would  have  difficulty  in  raising  a  disturbance  upon 
it,  unless  a  little  leaven  or  fertilizer  of  "moonshine" 
was  present  to  serve  as  a  starter. 

Just  before  reaching  Waynesburg,  we  strike  the 
foothills  of  the  Cumberland  Mountains,  and  the  rail- 
way passes  through  the  first  of  the  twenty-seven  tun- 
nels which  it  was  necessary  to  cut  through  the 
ridges  along  it's  line.  This  is  King's  Tunnel — said  to 
be  one  and  a  half  miles  in  length.  Crossing  the  Cum- 
berland River  at  Burnside,  the  railway  winds  on 
through  tunnel  after  tunnel  and  down  valley  after 
valley,  until  Harriman,  Tennessee,  is  reached.  This 
is  a  boom  town,  which  stands  out  prominently  on  the 
hills,  two  or  three  miles  to  the  left  of  the  main  line 
of  the  Southern. 


14  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

Below  Harriman  the  railway  runs  southwesterly, 
following  the  valley  of  the  Tennessee  River  for  70 
miles  to  Chattanooga.  On  the  right  for  this  entire 
distance  that  grand  escarpment  of  the  Cumberland 
Mountains,  known  as  Walden  Ridge,  rises  precipi- 
tously a  thousand  feet  or  more  in  one  unbroken 
line.  To  a  person  coming  from  the  level  plains  of 
Central  Indiana,  how  high,  how  grand  seems  its  sum- 
mit, gleaming  in  the  bright  spring  sunshine !  In  a 
level  country  'tis  hard  at  times  for  the  naturalist  to 
bring  his  thoughts  above  the  level  of  the  sward.  But 
with  hills  about- — gray  lichen  covered  cliffs  of  lime- 
stone or  sandstone  to  feast  the  eyes  upon — with 
waters  babbling  o'er  their  stony  bed  or  falling  in 
sheet-like  form  from  the  ledges  above — one  is  in- 
spired with  new  thoughts  and  enstrengthened  with 
new  ambitions.  The  hills  lift  up  the  human  soul 
just  in  proportion  as  they  lift  their  pinnacles  toward 
the  skies.  No  man  from  a  land  of  level  sward  e'er 
saw  for  the  first  time  a  mountain  peak  pierce  the 
clouds  without  being  bettered  by  the  sight.  New 
thoughts,  new  hopes,  new  resolves  are  engendered 
within  him  by  this  glimpse  of  a  portion  of  his  mother 
earth  rising  so  far  above  him.  Heretofore  he  has 
trodden  her  easily  beneath  his  feet — has  felt  himself 
master  of  her  domain  because  he  has  been  above  her. 
Now  he  sees  her  towering  in  inaccessible  cliffs  far  be- 
yond his  reach.  A  feeling  of  her  greatness  begins, 
for  the  first  time,  perchance,  to  force  itself  upon 


SOUTHWARD  BOUND.  15 

him.  He  sees  new  worlds  unconquered ;  he  dreams 
of  conquering  them ;  and  with  this  dream  new  seeds 
of  resolve,  of  ambition,  of  manfulness,  are  sown  with- 
in his  soul.  It  may  be  months — aye,  years — before 
these  seeds  begin  to  germinate,  but  they  are  there, 
and  the  proper  environments  and  opportunities  will 
sometime  cause  them  to  make  their  presence  known. 
I  sit  for  an  hour  or  more  on  the  rear  end  of  the 
observation  car  drinking  in  the  beauty  of  this  valley 
of  the  Tennessee.  As  we  proceed  southward  the 
signs  of  spring  become  more  numerous.  After  pass- 
ing Dayton,  the  music  of  the  frogs7  full  chorus  comes 
to  my  ear  for  the  first  time  this  season,  and  there- 
after, wherever  the  train  stops  in  the  vicinity  of 
water,  it  is  the  prevailing  sound.  As  the  last  rays  of 
the  day's  sunlight  glisten  and  sparkle  in  reflection 
from  the  crests  of  the  cliffs  of  Lookout  Mountain, 
the  train  enters  Chattanooga.  'Tis  a  city  famous  in 
the  annals  of  war— once  ravaged  and  desolated  by 
contending  armies,  now  thriving  and  populous — its 
35,000  citizens  enjoying  that  peace,  plenty  and  pros- 
perity which  has  come  as  the  aftermath  to  the  long 
struggle  of  two  score  years  ago.  From  the  car  win- 
doAV  the  city  appears  to  be  scattered  over  much  space, 
and  the  houses  old  and  begrimed  with  smoke,  but, 
as  in  most  other  cities,  the  railway  probably  passes 
through  the  least  pleasing  portion.  As  we  leave  its 
environs  the  curtain  of  darkness  lowers  and  the  ob- 
servations of  the  day  are  at  an  end. 


16  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

March  4,  1899. — Morning  breaks  with  the  hills 
all  behind  us  and  the  swamps  of  Georgia  surrounding 
us  on  every  side.  The  train  stops  with  a  sudden  jerk 
which  arouses  me.  The  first  sound  which  greets  my 
ear  is  the  trumpeting  note  of  the  festive  bull-frog. 
Looking  out,  I  see  a  waste  of  water;  low,  shrubby 
pine  trees;  flat,  wet  miasmatic  land.  Thus  it  con- 
tinues for  an  hour  or  more,  when  Everett  is  reached. 
It  is  in  Glynn  Coimty,  near  the  southeastern  border 
of  the  State.  On  the  map  in  the  folder  of  the  rail- 
way company  the  name  appears  in  bold  faced  type, 
the  place  being  a  crossing  of  two  railways.  From 
this  I  was  led  to  expect  a  town  of  some  size,  but  a 
glance  through  the  haze  of  the  early  morn  shows  only 
fifteen  or  twenty  rude  frame  houses,  a  railway  sta- 
tion and  stock  pens;  the  latter  presumably  for  aid  in 
loading  and  shipping  the  famous  razor-backed  hogs, 
which  I  here  see  for  the  first  time. 

Below  Everett  a  few  miles  the  first  specimens  of 
that  striking,  semi-tropical  growth,  the  cabbage  pal- 
metto, Sabal  palmetto  R.  &  S.,  appear.  It  occurs  in 
low  ground  near  the  coast,  from  the  mouth  of  Cape 
Fear  River,  North  Carolina,  southward  to  Florida, 
and  along  both  sides  of  that  peninsula  as  far  west- 
ward as  the  Appalachicola  River.  Occasionally, 
especially  along  the  inlets  and  larger  streams,  it  is 
found  back  thirty  to  fifty  miles  from  the  sea.  Pos- 
sessing a  trunk  twenty  to  forty  feet  in  height,  of  a 
uniform  diameter  throughout,  and  without  a  branch 


THE  CABBAGE  PALMETTO.  17 

or  other  appendage  save  a  loose,  globular  crown  of 
large  palmated  leaves,  it  is  one  of  the  most  beauti- 
ful and  majestic  members  of  our  southern  flora.  The 
leaves,  when  fully  expanded,  are  of  a  brilliant  green 
with  petioles  two  feet  or  more  in  length  and  palmate 
blades  varying  from  three  to  five  feet  in  breadth. 
They  are  so  arranged  that  the  smallest  occupy  the 
center  of  the  summit  and  the  largest  the  circumfer- 
ence. The  stem  increases  in  height  only  by  the 
growth  of  the  terminal  bud,  and  before  the  leaves  de- 
velop they  are  folded  like  a  fan.  As  the  older  leaves 
die  and  drop  away,  the  bases  of  their  petioles  and 
their  sheaths  form  a  protuberance  about  the  base  of 
the  crown;  the  sheaths  in  time  being  dissolved  into  a 
network  of  brown  interlaced  fibers. 

In  the  words  of  Michaux,  the  base  of  the  unopened 
bundle  of  leaves  "is  white,  compact  and  tender ;  it  is 
eaten  with  oil  and  vinegar,  and  resembles  the  arti- 
choke and  the  cabbage  in  taste,  whence  is  derived  the 
name  of  'cabbage  tree.'  But  to  destroy  a  vegetable 
which  has  been  a  century  in  growing,  to  obtain  three 
or  four  ounces  of  a  substance  neither  richly  nutri- 
tious nor  peculiarly  agreeable  to  the  palate,  would  be 
pardonable  only  in  a  desert  which  was  destined  to 
remain  uninhabited  for  ages.  With -similar  prodigal- 
ity of  the  works  of  nature,  the  first  settlers  of  Ken- 
tucky killed  the  buffalo,  an  animal  weighing  twelve 
or  fifteen  hundred  pounds,  for  the  pleasure  of  eat- 


18  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

ing  its  tongue,  and  abandoned  the  carcass  to  the 
beasts  of  the  wilderness."* 

The  palmetto,  however,  has  outlasted  the  buffalo, 
and  bids  fair  to  thrive  for  centuries  yet  to  come  in  the 
waste  lands  along  our  southern  coast.  Like  other 
palms,  it  is  a  true  endogen,  its  trunk  being  composed 


Fig.  2— Carrion  Crow. 

of  bundles  of  elongated  woody  fibers.  It  is  of  no  ac- 
count as  fuel,  being  very  soft,  porous  and  full  of  sap, 
and  therefore  decaying  before  it  dries  sufficiently  to 
burn.  Its  main  use  is  in  the  construction  of  piles, 
wharves,  etc.,  as  it  is  impervious  to  the  attack  of  the 
ship  worm,  Teredo  navalis  L.,  and  very  durable  un- 
der water. 

*  N.  Am.  Sylva,  1819,  III,  p.  2. 


THE  CARRION  CROW.  19 

Coincident  with  the  appearance  of  the  first  pal- 
metto is  that  of  another  semi-tropical  form,  though 
this  time  winged,  namely,  the  black  vulture  or  car- 
rion crow,  Catharista  atrata  Bartram.  In  recent 
years  the  known  range  of  this  vulture  has  gradually 
extended  northward,  until  now  it  is  recorded  as  a 
resident  in  small  numbers  in  southern  Ohio  and  In- 
diana.* In  the  south  it  is  everywhere  abundant  and, 
being  a  voracious  and  indiscriminate  feeder  on  car- 
rion and  all  sorts  of  animal  refuse,  it  is  an  efficient 
and  almost  indispensable  scavenger.  In  the  vicinity 
of  all  southern  cities  it  is  very  tame,  perching  in  flocks 
on  the  roofs,  fences  and  trees,  and  fearlessly  swoop- 
ing down  in  the  streets  and  alleys  upon  any  object 
which  presents  the  appearance  of  animal  offal. 

In  southern  Georgia  and  all  of  Florida  the  rail- 
ways are  ballasted  with  sand.  The  engines  burn  pine 
wood  instead  of  coal.  As  a  consequence  the  flakes 
of  soot  and  burning  cinders  are  large  and  abundant. 
Fires  alongside  the  railway  are  very  common.  Since 
all  bridges,  except  those  across  the  largest  streams, 
are  of  wood  supported  by  piles,  the  burning  of  some 
one  of  them  is  of  common  occurrence,  and  traffic  is 
thereby  oftentimes  much  delayed.  From  the  sand 
ballast,  and  from  the  sandy  plains  over  which  the 
roads,  for  the  most  part,  pass,  arises  a  fine  dust, 
which,  mixed  with  the  cinders,,  finds  its  way  through 
car  windows  and  doors  and  settles  over  everything 

*Vide  Twenty-second  Annual  Report,  Department  of  Geology  and 
Natural  Resources  of  Indiana,  1897,  p.  768. 


20  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

within.  The  railway  fare  upon  all  the  roads  in  Flor- 
ida is  four  cents  per  mile. 

The  towns  from  Everett  to  Jacksonville  are  all 
small,  apparently  pioneer  affairs,  started  when  the 
railway  was  built,  upon  small  clearings  in  a  primeval 
wilderness.  For  most  of  the  way  the  soil  of  the  up- 
land appears  to  be  a  very  thin  coating  of  organic 
matter  resting  on  a  bed  of  white  sand.  The  long- 
leaved  pine,  Pinus  palustris  Mill.,  and  two  or  three 
species  of  wire  grass,  Aristida,  form  ninety  per  cent, 
or  more  of  the  vegetation  of  these  so-called  "pine- 
barrens."  The  pines  are  almost  all  second  growth, 
and  in  many  places  are  being  used  for  turpentine  pro- 
duction. Occasionally  one  sees  a  giant,  rising  far 
above  its  fellows,  with  long  festoons  of  gray  Spanish 
moss,  Tillandsia  usneoides  L.,  dangling  from  its  out- 
stretched limbs.  These  are  the  solitary  sentinels  of 
the  original  pine  forest,  now  standing  guard,  as  it 
were,  over  the  younger  generation.  Their  com- 
panions have  long  since  fallen  before  the  axes  of  the 
lumbermen,  who  invaded  all  this  district  adjacent  to 
the  railway  as  soon  as  the  latter  was  completed. 
About  the  borders  of  the  pine-barrens  and  in  the 
marshes  the  vegetation  is  much  more  dense  and  the 
number  of  species  of  shrubs  and  trees  very  large. 

Crossing  the  St.  Mary's  River,  a  sluggish,  lagoon- 
like  stream  about  one  thousand  feet  in  width,  we  en- 
ter Florida — land  of  our  hopes  and  dreams — and  of 
the  hopes  and  dreams  of  thousands  of  other  tourists 


SOUTHWARD  BOUND.  21 

who  visit  it  each  year  in  search  of  health  or  pleasure. 
The  same  scenery  continues.  In  places  the  land  is 
higher,  the  long-leaved  pines  larger,  the  underbrush 
of  the  marshes  more  cleared  away.  Where  they  are 
loading  pine  logs  on  the  cars  we  note  that  four  to 
eight  mules  are  hitched  to  a  cart,  the  wheels  of  which 
are  ten  feet  in  diameter.  Suspended  from  the  axle  of 
the  cart  is  a  kind  of  grappling  hook  or  clamp,  which 
clasps  the  log  in  its  iron  embrace.  The  log  is  then 
dragged  across  the  barren  and  along  the  roads  to  the 
point  of  loading. 

We  arrive  at  Jacksonville  at  9:30  o'clock  a.  m., 
an  hour  late.  The  railway  station  is  in  the  outskirts 
of  the  city  and  we  see  but  little  of  the  latter,  as  we 
have  to  hurry  on  board  the  train  for  St.  Augustine 
and  the  south,  which  has  waited  for  us.  This  train 
belongs  to  what  is  known  as  the  Florida  East  Coast 
System,  which,  together  with  the  Plant  System,  con- 
trols all  the  railways  of  Florida.  The  main  line  of 
the  East  Coast  System  extends  from  Jacksonville  to 
Miami,  a  distance  of  366  miles,  the  railway  lying 
parallel  to  and  but  a  mile  or  two  distant  from  the 
Atlantic,  throughout  the  greater  portion  of  its  length. 

Jacksonville,  the  metropolis  of  Florida,  and  the 
point  to  which  all  tourists  are  ticketed,  is  a  city  of 
30,000  population,  located  on  the  St.  John's  River, 
some  twenty  miles  from  its  mouth.  My  destination 
is  Ormond,  a  town  on  the  Atlantic  coast,  105  miles 
below  Jacksonville.  On  the  way  the  railway  passes 


22  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

St.  Augustine,  the  first  European  settlement  in  the 
United  States,  and  the  most  noted  place  in  the  his- 
tory of  Florida.  I  see  little  of  it,  however,  for  I  ain 
seeking  not  the  history  of  man's  past,  not  his  society 
in  the  present,  but  health  and  a  knowledge  of  some 
of  nature's  object  which  dwell  in  this  sunny  southern 
clime. 


O    ~ 


H  s 

W  « 

H  5 

I 


AT  ORMOND  BY  THE  SEA. 


"  They  were  pleasant  spring  days  in  which  the  winter  of  man's  dis- 
content was  thawing  as  well  as  the  earth,  and  the  life  that  had  lain  torpid 
began  to  stretch  itself."— Thoreau. 

We  reach  Ormond  at  one  o'clock  p.  m.,  and  I  am 
met  at  the  station,  a  third  of  a  mile  from  the  town, 
by  Mr.  Harrison  Bristol,  a  gentleman  who  is  expect- 
ing me.  A  tram-car,  the  motive  power  of  which  is 
one  blind  horse,  is  waiting  for  passengers.  The 
driver  to-day  is  an  elegantly  dressed  lady,  probably 
one  of  the  guests  of  the  Ormond  Hotel,  the  great  inn 
a  mile  distant,  between  which  and  the  railway  station 
the  single  tram-car  runs.  She  keeps  the  horse  a-jog- 
ging  by  clucking  and  striking  him  with  the  lines, 
while  the  conductor  collects  the  fares. 

Ormond  is  a  pleasant  town  of  600  population,  a 
large  proportion  of  the  dwellings  being  the  winter 
cottages  Df  northern  residents.  Its  main,  and  prac- 
tically its  only,  street  runs  north  and  south  and  is 
nearly  a  mile  in  length.  Along  the  western  side  of 
this  the  houses  are  scattered,  facing  the  Halifax 
River,  a  tide-water  stream,  or  rather  elongated  bay, 
the  mouth  of  which,  Mosquito  Inlet,  opens  into  the 
Atlantic  seventeen  miles  below.  Opposite  the  town 

(23) 


24  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

the  river  is  nearly  half  a  mile  wide.  On  its  farther 
side  is  a  long  peninsula  or  narrow  stretch  of  land,  a 
third  to  a  half  mile  in  width,  on  the  eastern  side  of 
which  is  the  beach  line  of  the  Atlantic.  This  penin- 
sula extends  from  Mosquito  Inlet  northward  to  Har- 
wood,  five  miles  above  Ormond,  where  it  unites  with 
the  main  land.  A  substantial  bridge  crosses  the  river 
at  Ormond,  and  at  its  eastern  end,  or  on  the  east  bank 
of  the  Halifax  opposite  the  town,  is  the  Ormond  Ho- 
tel, one  of  the  famous  hostelries  owned  and  operated 
by  the  East  Florida  Railway  Company.  At  the  hotel 
the  prices  range  from  $5  per  day  upward,  so  I  con- 
tent myself  with  a  room  in  the  modest  cottage  of  Mr. 
Bristol,  in  the  town  proper,  and  arrange  for  meals  at 
a  nearby  boarding  house. 

An  unusually  heavy  frost,  a  few  weeks  before  my 
arrival,  killed  many  fruit  trees  and  all  the  early 
vegetables.  The  bay  trees,  magnolias,  cabbage  pal- 
mettos and  other  shrubs  and  trees  indigenous  to  the 
region  have  withstood  its  blighting  touch,  and  the 
semi-tropical  aspect  given  to  vegetation  by  their  fo- 
liage is  delightful  to  one  just  from  the  north  where 
all  is  yet  brown  and  sere.  Peach  trees  are  in  full 
blossom,  and  the  fragrance  of  the  flowers  of  the  yel- 
low jessamine  is  most  pleasing.  The  songs,  chirps 
and  calls  of  mocking  birds,  chewinks,  brown  thrushes, 
blue  jays  and  crows,  greet  me  on  every  side.  The 
sounds  and  odors  of  May  10th  or  thereabouts  in  cen- 
tral Indiana  surround  me. 


THE  SA  W  PALMETTO.  25 

After  removing  some  of  the  dust  and  grime  of 
travel,  refreshing  the  inner  man  and  disposing  of  my 
baggage,  I  set  out  northward  on  a  short  tour  of  ex- 
ploration. The  houses,  for  the  most  part,  are  on 
large  lots,  and  possess  extensive  lawns  filled  with 
shrubbery  and  flowers.  At  the  end  of  the  street 
the  roadway  enters  at  once  the  unfenced  forest  and 
continues  thus  for  miles  northward.  These  woods 
bordering  the  river,  as  well  as  all  others  which  after- 
ward came  to  my  notice,  excepting  the  pine-barrens, 
are  not  clear  and  open  like  most  of  those  in  the  north- 
ern states,  but  are  so  filled  with  tropical  undergrowth 
that  one  can  scarcely  force  his  way  through  them. 
Fully  eighty  per  cent,  of  this  undergrowth  in  the 
vicinity  of  Ormond  is  composed  of  the  saw  palmetto, 
Serenoa  serrulata  Hook.  Its  creeping  stem  branches 
and  ramifies  in  every  direction  just  beneath  the  sur- 
face. The  large,  circular,  fan-shaped  leaves,  with 
many  sharp  teeth  along  the  edges  of  their  petioles, 
rise  at  short  intervals  from  the  joints  of  the  under- 
ground stem  and  reach  a  height  of  two  to  four  feet. 
Their  teeth  clutch  and  tear  at  one's  clothing  at  every 
onward  step.  Covering,  as  the  leaves  do,  almost 
every  square  foot  of  surface,  they  present  a  most 
formidable  obstacle  to  persons  desiring  to  penetrate 
the  forest.  These  leaves  have  a  strong  fiber  and  their 
blades  are  used  in  filling  mattresses.  The  flowers 
furnish  fine  bee  pasturage.  The  root  is  said  to  be 
rich  in  tannin;  while  the  black  drupes  or  berries, 


26 


A  NATURE  WOOING. 


three-fourths  of  an  inch  in  length,  are  gathered  in 
quantity  by  the  natives  and  sold  to  parties  who  use 
them  in  the  preparation  of  medicine.  They  are  said 
also  to  be  a  favorite  food  of  bears. 

About  the  only  animal  form  which  I  note  on  this 
initial  trip  is  a  chamseleon,  Anolis  carolinensis  Cuv., 
on  the  under  surface  of  one  of  the  leaves  of  the  saw 
palmettto,  his  hue  as  bright  a  green  as  that  of  his 
resting  place.  I  watch  him  a  short  time,  and  he,  in 
turn,  blinks  and  stares  at  me.  His  agility  finally 
saves  him  from 'a  consignment  to  my  alcohol  bottle, 
and  I  turn  backward  as  the  dusk  of  the  coming  night 
settles  around  me. 


Fig.  3— Southern  Mocking-bird. 

(After  Judd.) 


March  5,  1899. — The  Sabbath  morn  breaks  cloudy 
and  sultry,  and  about  seven  o'clock  the  rain  begins  to 


SOUTHERN  CROWS.  27 

fall  heavily,  preventing  that  out-door  exercise  which 
I  so  badly  need.  The  song  of  the  brown  thrush  and 
the  southern  mocking  bird  are  the  sounds  which  are 
first  impressed  upon  my  awakening  senses.  Mingled 
with  them  is  the  loud  "char"-"char"  of  the  zebra 
woodpecker,  Melanerpes  carolinus  L.  Yellowham- 
mers  or  flickers  are  also  abundant,  and  their  cackle 
is  heard  incessantly ;  not  "on,  the  hillsides,"  as  noted 
by  Thoreau,  for  there  are  no  hills,  but  seemingly 
everywhere  in  the  early  morn. 

On  my  way  to  breakfast  I  note  a  gray  squirrel, 
Sciurus  carolinensis  Gmelin,  frisking  and  jumping 
along  the  fence  of  an  unused  town  lot.  It  is  a  third 
smaller,  and  has  its  upper  surface  more  varied  with 
tawny  or  yellowish  brown,  than  the  northern  variety, 
leucotis.  This  is  the  only  truly  arboreal  squirrel 
found  near  Ormond,  and  is  very  common  hereabouts 
according  to  the  statement  of  mine  host. 

A  flock  of  crows  numbering  a  hundred  or  more 
settle,  as  I  write,  in  the  pines  along  the  river  bank 
and  on  the  remains  of  the  old  pier  jutting  out  into 
the  stream.  They  utter  at  intervals  a  peculiar  low, 
short  croak  resembling  the  syllables  "kah,"  "kah." 
This  differs  much  from  the  more  prolonged,  harsher 
"c-a-w"  of  their  northern  brethren.  It  may  be  that 
some  fish  crows,  Corvus  ossifragus  Wilson,  mingle 
with  the  common  Corvus  americanus  and  utter  the 
short,  soft  call.  It  is  impossible  to  determine  this 
without  specimens  in  hand.  As  the  rain  begins  to 


28  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

fall  the  entire  flock  rapidly  departs  for  the  shelter  of 
the  woodland. 

Soon  after  noon  the  rain  ceases  and  I  start  once 
more  along  the  roadway  northward,  my  destination 
being  a  large  shell  mound  about  a  mile  from  the  cen- 
ter of  the  town,  over  the  slope  of  which  the  road 
passes.  From  this  mound  has  been  obtained  for 
years  the  material  for  the  sidewalks  of  Ormond.  It 
is  located  within  a  few  rods  of  the  Halifax  River, 
and  covers  an  area  1,136  feet  in  length;  the  width 
varying  from  144  to  362  feet.  The  greatest  thickness 
or  height  above  the  surrounding  plain  is  ten  feet. 
The  soil  covering  the  surface  of  the  mound  is  very 
rich,  and  on  it  grow  many  magnificent  specimens  of 
cabbage  palmettos,  live  oaks  and  other  trees.  It  is  a 
kitchen  midden,  or  refuse  heap  of  some  ancient  peo- 
ple, composed  of  a  number  of  species  of  shells,  pieces 
of  pottery,  bones  of  various  animals,  ashes,  charcoal, 
etc.  I  shall  make  many  pilgrimages  to  it  during  my 
stay  and  will  give  a  detailed  description  of  it  here- 
after. The  above  facts  are  mentioned  in  this  connec- 
tion in  order  that  the  reader  may  know  something 
of  its  character  when  reference  is  made  to  it  on  the 
pages  which  follow. 

On  my  way  to  and  from  the  mound  this  afternoon 
I  make  a  number  of  side  excursions  a  short  distance 
into  the  woods  on  either  side  of  the  roadway.  From 
beneath  some  chunks  of  decaying  palmetto,  I  secure 
several  specimens  of  a  very  large  myriapod.  A  pine 


AT  ORMOND  BY  THE  SEA. 


29 


log  yields  a  few  small  beetles  of  the  family  Hister- 
idae,  and  its  stump,  when  the  loose  bark  is  pulled 
away,  reveals  a  number  of  large  wingless  cock- 
roaches, most  of  which  were  dead,  probably  from 
the  effects  of  the  recent  frost.  They  are  afterwards 
identified  as  Eurycotis  ingens 
Scudder  —  the  largest  and  most 
ill-smelling  blattid  I  have  ever 
collected.  Two  scorpions,  a  num- 
ber of  minute  pseudo-scorpions, 
Chelifer  muricatus  Say,  and  sev- 
eral examples  of  an  earwig, 
Labia  burgessi  Scudd.,  are  se- 
cured beneath  the  bark  of  the 
same  stump. 

The  young  of  a  very  slender 
bodied  brown  grasshopper,  Rha- 
dinotatum  brevipenne  Thos.,  are  found  to  be  frequent 
on  the  scattering  sedges  and  grasses  in  such  small 
open  places  as  are  bare  of  the  saw  palmetto. 
A  single  butterfly,  flitting  along  the  road  close 
to  the  ground,  is  netted  and  found  to  be  an  old  ac- 
quaintance, Eudamus  pylades  Scudder,  the  dusky 
wing.  With  the  exception  of  six  or  seven  small  hya- 
line white  spots  arranged  in  three  groups  on  each 
fore-wing,  it  is  a  uniform  dark  brown  in  color.  The 
antennae  are  spindle-shaped,  with  the  apical  half  more 
slender  and  bent  abruptly  downward.  The  wing  ex- 
panse is  one  and  a  half  inches.  It  is  quite  common 


Fig.  4— A  Pseudo-scor- 
pion. 

(Oremtlj  enlarged.) 


30  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

in  the  northern  states  in  June  and  July,  the  larvse 
feeding  on  clover  and  allied  plants.  I  afterward  took 
a  number  of  additional  specimens  near  Ormond. 

March  6,  1899. — The  morning  dawns  clear  and 
cool.  I  spend  the  forenoon  entomologizing,  follow- 
ing a  forest  roadway  in  its  many  turns.  Dragonflies 
are  plentiful,  Trained  Carolina  L.,  a  medium  sized 
species  with  large  brown  spots  on  the  base  of  the  sec- 
ondaries, being  exceedingly  so.  Next  to  this  in 
abundance  is  Anax  junius  Drury,  a  large  form  with 


Fig.  5— The  Giant  Swallow-tail. 

Papilio  cresphontes  Cram. 
(Three-fifths  natural  size.) 


head  and  thorax  grass  green.  Darting  hither  and 
thither  in  the  bright  March  sunshine,  they  are  this 
morning  the  most  brilliant  creatures  of  the  air  on 
the  wing. 


SOME  FLORIDA  BUTTERFLIES.  31 

Among  the  butterflies,  Papilio  turnus  L.  and  P. 
ores  phonies  Cram,  are  seen,  but  escape  the  net. 
Three  species  are  captured,  viz.,  Papilio  troilus  L., 
Agraulis  vanillce  L.,  and  a  small  earth-loving  form, 
Neonympha  sosybius  Fab.  From  other  members  of 
its  group  it  is  known  by  its  being  a  uniform  wood 
brown  above,  while  below  the  wings  are  crossed  by 
two  narrow  reddish  brown  lines.  Near  the  hind  bor- 
der of  the  under  side  of  the  fore-wings  are  one  or  two 
black  eye  spots  ringed  with  yellow  and  pupilled  with 
pale  blue,  and  each  hind  wing  bears  two  or  three  sim- 
ilar spots.  Like  all  others  of  its  genus  it  is  a  wood- 
land sprite,  flitting  ever  close  to  Mother  Earth  in 
ceaseless,  restless  flight. 

Three  species  of  locusts  are  noted.  One,  Schis- 
tocerca  americana  Drury,  common  in  the  north,  flew 
with  prolonged  zigzag  flight  into  the  top  of  an  osage- 
orange  tree  where,  like  a  squirrel,  it  dodged  around 
the  side  of  the  branch  when  approached,  and  so  es- 
caped the  net.  Two  specimens  of  Arphia  granulata 
Sauss.  and  several  of  a  sharp-headed,  brown-bodied 
form,  AmUytropidia  occidentalis  Sauss.,  were  se- 
cured. 

In  the  afternoon  a  strong,  cold  wind  blows  from 
the  west.  I  cross  the  river  and  the  peninsula  beyond 
to  the  ocean's  beach.  Before  me  the  Atlantic 
stretches  eastward,  blue  and  unbroken  to  the  shores 
of  Africa.  The  wind  blows  off  shore,  and  except  for 
the  sight  and  roar  of  the  surf  I  would  not  know  the 


32  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

sea  was  there.  No  odor  of  salt  water,  no  sign  of  sea- 
weed greets  me.  The  beach  is  a  hard,  unbroken  mass 
of  reddish  yellow  sand,  with  only  here  and  there  the 
valve  of  a  sea  shell  or  the  body  of  a  giant  sea  squid 
to  break  its  monotony.  Not  a  pebble,  not  a  sign  of 
fish,  not  a  rock  for  the  waves  to  dash  upon ;  how  dif- 
ferent from  the  beach  of  the  same  ocean  along  New 
England's  rock-bound  coast! 

The  ever-present  fish  hawks,  Pandion  hcdicetus  L., 
great,  unwieldy  bodied  birds,  fly  in  pairs,  close  down 
to  the  incoming  surf,  seeking  with  eagle  eye  a  supper 
in  its  depths.  Flocks  of  a  curious  little  "shore 
walker"  or  sand  piper  follow  in  a  peculiar  running 
gait  every  retreating  wave;  then  turn  about  and  re- 
treat as  rapidly  before  each  advancing  one. 

A  solitary  steamer  of  small  size,  southward  bound, 
about  half  a  mile  from  shore,  is  the  only  vessel  in 
sight.  After  an  hour  the  whole  scene  becomes  mo- 
notonous in  the  extreme  and,  on  account  of  the  sharp 
wind  which  catches  up  and  carries  outward  clouds  of 
sand  from  the  inner  edge  of  the  beach,  very  disagree- 
able. 

March  7,  1899. — This  morning  the  mercury  marks 
the  freezing  point,  and  the  same  wind,  cold  and  dis- 
agreeable, blows  from  the  northwest.  I  wear  an 
overcoat  to  breakfast,  and  at  nine  o'clock  don  it  again 
and  start  forth  in  search  of  insects.  In  a  deserted 
orange  grove,  where  the  dead,  thorny  snags  of  former 
prosperous  growing  trees  are  sad  evidence  of  the 


AT  ORMOND  BY  THE  SEA. 


frosts  of  the  past  few  winters,  I  spend  most  of  the 
time  till  noon.  The  hardened,  spine  clad  involucres 
of  last  season's  sand  burs,  Cenchrus  tribuloides  L., 
are  very  numerous  and  give  me  much  trouble  by  ad- 
hering to  the  net  every  time  I  sweep  it  close  to  the 
ground.  From  the  dunes  along  Lake  Michigan  to  the 
sandy  plains  of  south  Florida  this  weed  produces  its 
annual  crop  of  troublesome  armored  involucres. 
Linnaeus  must  have  pricked  his  finger  with  one  of 
its  barbed  spines  when  he  called  it  tribuloides.  'Tis 
well  named,  being  a  tribulation,  indeed,  to  bare- 
footed boys  and  butterfly  hunters. 

As  on  yester- 
day, three  or 
four  species  of 
dragonflies  are 
plentiful.  Five 
specimens  of  one 
small,  dark 
brown  form,  Di- 
placodes  minus- 
cula  Rarnb.,  are 
captured  close  to 
the  ground  from 
steins  of  weeds 

and  grass  on  which  they  alight.  The  others  fly  too 
high  and  too  swiftly  up  and  down  the  roadway. 
What  are  they  hawking  for  on  such  a  day  as  this  is 


Fig.  6— The  Buckeye  Butterfly. 

Junonla  ccenia  Hub. 

(After  French.) 


34  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

to  me  a  mystery,  for  I  see  no  sign  of  mosquito  or 
other  dragonfly  tid-bit  in  the  cold  raw  air. 

Of  butterflies  I  note  another  old  friend,  the  giant 
swallowtail,  Papilio  cresphontes  Cram.,  but  it,  too,  is 
propelled  onward  by  the  stiff  breeze  too  rapidly  for 
me.  Two  worn  and  be-draggled  specimens  of  the 
buckeye  butterfly,  Junonia  >ccenia  Hub.,  alone  are 
captured.  Both  it  and  cresphontes  range  as  far  north- 
ward as  northern  Indiana,  though  both  are  scarce  in 
that  State. 

Over  a  sandy  stretch  in  the  old  orchard  I  find  the 
locusts  common ;  among  them  the  ArpJiia  taken  yester- 
day, as  well  as  a  handsome,  parti-colored  species, 
Scirtettica  picta  Scudd.  The  male  of  this  usually 
flies  a  long  distance  when  flushed,  making,  while  on 
the  wing,  a  noise  like  the  buzzing  of  a  very  angry 
bumble  bee.  The  female  is  more  sluggish,  and  noise- 
less in  its  flight.  The  common,  green-striped  grass- 
hopper of  the  north,  Chortophaga  viridifasciata  De 
Geer.,  is  also  present  in  numbers  on  the  sand  covered 
earth.  Its  hues  are,  however,  so  different  that  I  do 
not  recognize  it,  and  think  it  an  undescribed  form  un- 
til I  reach  the  house  and  consult  Scudder's  table  of 
variation  of  the  northern  and  southern  forms.  On  a 
patch  of  green  weeds  I  find  a  pair  of  wingless,  bright 
green  locusts — the  tegmina  being  represented  only 
by  narrow,  oblong,  whitish  yellow  scales.  They  leap 
clumsily  when  disturbed.  They  prove  to  be  examples 
of  Aptenopedes  spJienarioides  Scudder,  a  species 


AT  ORMOND  BY  THE  SEA.  35 

known  only  from  Florida.  On  a  dead  clump  of  grass 
in  a  neighboring  field  I  take  a  brown  male  of  the 
same  species,  so  that  it,  like  many  other  acridians, 
seeks  a  place  of  hiding  with  which  it  agrees  in  color. 
There,  as  long  as  motionless,  it  is  quite  secure  from 
the  eyes  of  those  birds  and  reptiles  which  are  ever  on 
the  search  for  a  juicy  locust. 

Thus,  though  the  wind  continues  to  blow  strongly 
and  the  air  is  so  cold  that  I  shiver  when  standing 
still  for  any  time,  I  find,  by  persevering  search,  forms 
of  interest  in  this  old  orange  orchard,  and  trudge 
homeward,  well  satisfied  with  my  morning's  outing. 

March  8,  1899. — Another  day  dawns,  clear,  breezy 
and  cold — four  degrees  below  the  freezing  point. 
One  feels  the  chill  much  more  here  than  in  the  north, 
especially  after  enjoying  a  few  days  of  warm  weather. 
Wrapped  in  our  overcoats,  Mr.  B.  and  I  sallied  forth, 
he  armed  with  rifle  to  bring  down  any  squirrel  which 
may  be  foolish  enough  to  venture  out  on  such  a  day ; 
I,  with  butterfly  net,  to  swoop  in  the  more  foolish  in- 
sects, if  any  such  I  meet.  Our  destination  was  some 
old  Spanish  chimneys  in  the  hammock  about  two 
miles  west  of  Ormond. 

As  the  term  "hammock"*  will  be  frequently  used 
hereafter,  a  definition  of  it  will  not  be  amiss  at  this 
point.  In  the  Gulf  and  South  Atlantic  states  it  re- 
fers to  any  area  whose  soil  is  other  than  sand.  If  a 


•'Preferably   "hummock,"    according    to   the   Century   Dictionary, 
though  invariably  "hammock"  in  Florida. 


36  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

"high  hammock/'  its  general  level  is  a  few  feet  above 
the  surrounding  marshes.  If  a  "low  hammock,"  it  is 
a  marsh  or  swale.  In  either  case  it  is  usually  under- 
lain with  marl  or  coquina  rock,  and  covered  with  a 
rich  vegetable  mold.  These  hammocks  form  the  rich- 
est portions  of  Florida.  On  them,  or  in  them,  grow 
all  the  hardwood  timber.  In  contra-distinction  to  the 
hammocks  are  the  "barrens"  or  "pine  lands,"  whose 
soil  is  of  sand  alone  or  of  sand  mixed  with  a  small 
percentage  of  marine  salts  and  organic  matter. 
Humus,  or  vegetable  mold,  is  the  needed  constituent 
of  the  barrens.  It  is  always  present  in  quantity  in 
the  hammocks.  Hence  the  latter,  when  cleared  of 
their  timber  and  cultivated,  are  profusely  productive 
of  almost  every  kind  of  vegetable.  Such  land,  when 
cleared  within  two  miles  of  Ormond,  sells  readily  at 
$100  or  more  per  acre,  whereas  the  sand-covered 
land  can  be  had  for  one-tenth  that  sum,  and  for  the 
most  part  is  dear  at  any  price.  The  underlying  marl 
and  cemented  mass  of  sea  shells  seem  to  yield  con- 
stantly certain  elements  which  find  their  way  to  the 
surface  of  the  hammock  and  form  an  abundance  of 
plant  food.  The  soil  can,  therefore,  be  used  for 
years,  whereas  two  or  three  seasons  are  sufficient  to 
deplete  the  sandy  soils  of  what  little  organic  matter 
they  possess. 

Soon  after  starting,  Mr.  B.  shot  a  pileated  wood- 
pecker, or  log  cock,  Ceophlceus  pileatus  L.,  from  the 
top  of  a  dead  cabbage  palmetto.  It  is  a  male,  some- 


PI.  IV 


ONE  OF  THE  OLD  SPANISH  CHIMNEYS. 


OLD  SPANISH  CHIMNEYS.  3? 

what  smaller  than  the  northern  form  of  the  same 
species.  This  diminution  in  size  is  noticeable  in  the 
blue  jays,  crows,  squirrels  and  many  other  birds  and 
mammals  hereabouts. 

The  road  led  between  deserted  orange  groves, 
where  many  thousands  of  dollars  have  been  lost  by 
unlucky  northern  investors.  The  "cracker/'  or  na- 
tive of  Florida,  knows  better  than  to  invest  time  and 
money  in  orange  groves  in  this  portion  \of  the  State, 
where  King  Frost  is  apt  to  reign  supreme  one  or 
more  times  each  winter.  The  cracker  is  not  averse, 
however,  to  selling  his  cleared  hammock  lands  for  fab- 
ulous prices  to  the  tyro  from  the  north  who  wishes  to 
set  out  orange  orchards. 

The  old  Spanish  chimneys  are  much  visited  by  the 
aristocracy  who  stop  at  the  great  Hotel  de  Ormond. 
To  them  they  go  in  rubber-tired  carriages  or  on  horse- 
back, never  afoot.  At  them  they  gaze,  and  marvel 
o'er  these  monuments  of  a  dead  and  misty  past.  The 
chimneys  are  three  in  number,  each  about  twenty  feet 
in  height.  One  is  formed  of  coquina  rock,  the  other 
two,  of  brick.  The  latter  are  still  connected  with  the 
remains  of  furnaces  in  which,  200  years  ago,  the 
juices  of  the  indigo  plant  and  sugar  cane  were  boiled. 
The  hammock  on  which  they  stand  was  then  cleared 
and  doubtless  produced  bounteous  crops.  7Tis  now 
covered  with  a  dense  growth  of  cabbage  palmettos, 
saplings  and  underbrush. 


38 


A  NATURE  WOOING. 


These  remains  of  old  Spanisli  settlements  are 
found  in  various  parts  of  Florida.  They  were  noted 
by  Bartram  more  than  a  century  ago,  he  writing  of 
them  as  follows:*  "We  passed  four  or  five  miles 
through  old  Spanish  fields.  There  are  to  be  seen 
plain  marks  or  vestiges  of  the  old  plantations  and 

dwellings;  as  fence 
posts  and  wooden 
pillars  of  their 
houses,  chimneys, 
ditches,  and  even 
corn  ridges  and  ba- 
tata hills.  From  the 
Indian  accounts, 
the  Spaniards  had 
here  a  rich,  well- 
cultivated  and  popu- 

Fig.  7— Long-billed  Marsh  Wren.  loUS  Settlement,  and 

a     strong    fortified 

post,  as  they  likewise  had  at  the  savanna  and  fields  of 
Capola,  but  either  of  them  far  inferior  to  one  they 
had  some  miles  farther  southwest  toward  the  Apala- 
chuchla  River,  now  called  the  Apalachean  Old 
Fields,  where  yet  remain  vast  works  and  buildings, 
as  fortifications,  temples,  some  brass  cannon,  mortars, 
heavy  church  bells,  etc." 

These     various     Spanish     settlements     probably 


*  Travels  through  North  and  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  East  and  West 
Florida,  etc.,  1793,  p.  231. 


GROUND  DOVES. 


39 


reached  their  greatest  prosperity  in  the  early  part  of 
the  eighteenth  century.  About  the  middle  of  that 
century  they  were  deserted  on  account  of  imbroglios 
between  Spain  and  other  nations,  as  well  as  the  hos- 
tility of  the  Indians.  Bartram's  work  was,  therefore, 
written  a  half  century  after  their  abandonment. 

On  the  way  back  from  the  old  chimneys  I  noted  the 
long-billed  marsh  wren,  Cistothorm  palusiris  Wilson, 
and  the  Maryland  yel- 
low throat,  GeotJilypis 
trichas  L. — both  old 
northern  acquaint- 
ances —  flitting  about 
the  weedy  margins  of 
a  marsh.  Flocks  of 
turtle  doves  were  also 
seen,  but  they  appear 
to  be  less  common  here 
than  the  ground  dove, 

Columbigattina  passerina  L.  The  first  part  of  this 
long  scientific  name  signifies  "pigeon"  and  "hen," 
and  the  latter  part,  "like  a  sparrow,"  the  dove  par- 
taking of  the  characteristics  of  all  three  of  these 
well-known  birds.  They  are  but  little  larger  than 
the  English  sparrow,  greyish  olive  glossed  with  blue 
above;  the  male  with  the  head  and  breast  wine  col- 
ored. Settling  down  in  the  streets  and  the  back 
yards,  they  search  for  food,  bill  and  coo,  almost  re- 
gardless of  the  presence  of  man.  Bartram  mentions 


Fig.  8— Ground  Doves. 


40  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

them  as  follows:  "Catesby's  ground  doves  are  also 
here  in  abundance;  they  are  remarkably  beautiful 
and  their  soft  and  plaintive  cooing  perfectly  en- 
chanting. 

How  chaste  the  dove !  '  Never  known  to  violate  the  con- 
jugal contract.' 

She  flees  the  seats  of  envy  and  strife,  and  seeks  the  retired 
paths  of  peace."* 

Among  the  hard  woods  growing  in  the  edges  of  the 
"low  hammocks/7  I  noted  the  following  northern 
forms:  Bitter-nut,  Hicoria  minima  Marsh;  sweet- 
gum,  Liquidambar  styraciflua  L.,  and  the  wild  black 
cherry,  Prunus  serotina  Ehrh.  ISTone  of  these,  how- 
ever, seem  to  reach  the  size  they  do  in  the  north. 

Near  the  edge  of  the  town  we  saw  a  native  woman 
busily  engaged  in  doing  the  family  washing.  The 
clothes  are  dipped  in  a  tub  of  water,  then  placed  on  a 
block  of  wood  and  pounded  with  a  club. 

In  the  afternoon  I  went  again  to  the  old  orange  or- 
chard in  search  of  insects.  A  little  black  and  brown 
ground  cricket,  Nemobius  ambitiosus  Scudd.,  I  found 
to  be  frequent  among  dead  leaves  and  short  grass 
along  hedge  rows  and  borders  of  the  forest.  It  is 
smaller  and  more  handsome  than  our  common  north- 
ern form,  N.  fasciatus  vittaius.  The  face  is  jet  black, 
with  a  narrow,  widtish-yellow  transverse  line  just  be- 
low the  base  of  the  antennae,  while  the  femora  bear 


*Loc.  cit.,  p.  8. 


AT  O&MOND  ST  THE  SEA. 


4i 


lengthwise  bands  of  black.     Otherwise  the  color  is  a 
reddish  brown,  though  a  few  males  are  almost  wholly 
black.    I  afterwards  found  it  quite 
common  and,  at  this  season  of  the 
year,  the  only  species  of  Nemobius 
about  Ormond.     The  first  speci- 
men of  a  large  butterfly,  Papilio 
palamedes  Drury,  which  was  also 
afterwards  taken  in  numbers,  was 
secured. 

March  0,  1899.— To-day  the 
sun  shines  from  a  cloudless  sky,  as 
it  does  on  most  days  here,  but  to 
me  it  matters  little  whether  it 
shines  or  no,  for  the  old  pain  at 
base  of  brain  is  present  in  full 
force.  I  cross  the  river  and  the 
peninsula  for  a  stroll  along  the 
ocean's  margin  at  low  tide.  Be- 
fore me,  blue,  blue,  a  dull,  slaty 
blue,  the  waters  roll.  Xo  sail,  no 
bird,  no  sign  of  life !  Here  and  there,  far  out,  a 
white  cap  flecks  the  surface  for  an  instant — then 
vanishes.  ?Tis  like  some  human  lives — rising  by 
long  endeavor  for  a  brief  moment  above  the  common 
vulgar  wave — then,  sinking  forever  to  the  level.  It 
is  ever  thus.  The  day  of  despair  f  olloweth  the  day  of 
hope.  The  morn  may  break  ever  so  fair ;  our  ship, 
with  all  sails  set,  moving  steadily  forward  on  what 


Fig.  9— Ground 
Cricket. 

yemobiu*  'atciatu*  vittatut 

Harris. 
(Female,  twice  natural  «iz«. 


A  NATURE  WOOING. 


seems  a  most  prosperous  voyage.  Before  nightfall 
the  waves  of  adversity  beat  about  us  and  we  are  lost; 
wrecked  on  some  unthought  of — unheard  of — shore. 
The  roar  and  surge  of  the  incoming  tide  are  alone 
borne  to  my  ear — a  dull,  monotonous  sound  in  the 
calm  of  midday.  My  companion  stops  to  gather  a 
few  quarts  of  living  "coquina  clams,"  Donax  varicu- 
bilis  Say.  At  low  tide  they  are  found  in  numbers  but 
an  inch  or  two  below  the  surface  of  the  sand.  He 
puts  them  into  a  perforated  iron  basin  and,  by,shak- 
ing  them  to  and  fro  in  the  pools  of  water,  cleanses 
them  of  sand.  They  are  used  extensively  for  mak- 
ing soup,  being  boiled,  shells  and  all,  the  liquid  then 
separated  by  straining.  Here  and  there  a  sea  snail, 
Polinices  duplicate  Say,  has  thrown  up  a  mole-like 
burrow  of  sand  a  yard 
or  two  in  length.  By 
a  kick  of  the  foot  it  is 
easily  dislodged  from 
the  end  of  its  burrow. 
This  mollusk  is  very 
common  along  this  por- 
tion of  the  Atlantic 
coast.  The  empty 
shells  of  it  and  other 
species  are  often  inhabited  by  the  hermit  crab, 
Eupagurnus  bernhardus  Desm.,  and  its  allies.  As 
the  crabs  increase  in  size  they  exchange  the  smaller 
shells  for  larger  ones. 


Fig.  10— Hermit  Crab  in  shell  of  Sea 
Snail. 


T&E  SEA  BEACH  Al  ORMOND.  43 

The  ocean,  kingly  at  times  in  its  majestic  power,  is 
to-day  wonderfully  calm  and  meek.  The  surf  runs 
low,  the  waves  breaking  on  the  outer  bar,  some  fifty 
yards  from  the  water's  edge,  then  flowing  peacefully 
inward.  Inch  by  inch,  each  one  comes  nearer  and 
nearer,  until  in  time  they  will  reach  and  pass  be- 
yond the  spot  where  I  now  sit.  At  present  one  hun- 
dred yards  of  sand,  at  first  whitish ;  nearer  the  water, 
brownish-red,  intervenes  between  me  and  their  edge. 

The  rich  man,  his  wife  and  children,  stop  at  the 
great  hotel;  pay  $5  each  per  day  for  board,  and  when 
they  wish  an  outing  order  a  carriage,  wrap  them- 
selves in  woolens  and  furs,  and  ride  haughtily  along 
the  beach,  seeing  little  beauty  in  the  ocean,  less  in  the 
land.  The  poor  man,  clad  in  homely  frock,  walks,  in- 
dependent and  free,  needing  no  wraps,  his  exercise 
furnishing  bodily  heat  in  excess.  He  breathes  great 
volumes  of  the  invigorating  sea  air  and  rejoices  that 
he  can  pass  a  few  days  along  these  shores.  Which  of 
the  two  is  the  happier? 

March  10,  1899. — The  morning  cloudy,  and  by  ten 
o'clock  very  sultry.  I  start  west  from  Ormond,  going 
back  among  the  hammocks.  In  the  outskirts  of  the 
village,  near  an  old  deserted  blacksmith  shop,  I  find 
beneath  boards  a  number  of  specimens  of  a  large,  flat, 
bluish-green  centipede,  Scolopendra  morsitans  L., 
which  is  very  Common  in  this  vicinity.  Its  bite  is  re- 
puted to  be  poisonous,  but  I  can  find  no  one  who 
knows  by  experience  whether  this  is  true  or  not.  In 


44  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

a  decaying  palmetto  log  I  secure  two  mature  speci- 
mens of  a  small  cockroach,  Ceratinoptera  lutea 
Sauss.-Zehnt.  This  I  have  seen  twice  before,  but 
have  not  been  able  to  capture  until  to-day.  It  seems 
to  occur  rarely  about  palmetto  logs  and  beneath  rub- 
bish. In  color  it  is  brownish  yellow,  flecked  with 
dusky  on  the  pronotum.  The  wings  just  reach  the 
end  of  the  abdomen  and  the  total  length  of  the  body 
is  less  than  one-third  of  an  inch. 

But  few  of  the  large  roaches,  Eurycotis  ingens  Scud- 
der,  have  as  yet  reached  maturity.  The  young,  how- 
ever, are  very  common  beneath  rubbish  and  the  bark 
of  stumps.  It  is  my  opinion  that  E.  sabalina  Scud- 
der  is  but  the  immature  form  of  E.  ingens.  It  was 
described  at  the  same  time,*  the  chief  differences 
noted  being  the  total  absence  of  tegmina  and  wings 
and  the  presence  of  a  rather  broad  band  of  yellow  on 
the  margin  of  pronotum,  mesanotum  and  part  of 
metanotum.  All  the  young  of  E.  ingens  possess  these 
characteristics,  the  yellow  band  disappearing  in  the 
final  moult. 

Beneath  a  board  I  also  find  two  specimens  of  the 
small  greyish-brown  ground  lizard,  Oligosoma  lat- 
er ale  Say,  one  minus  its  tail,  the  other  with  what  ap- 
pears to  be  a  reproduced  tail,  a  bright  red  in  color. 
This  species  occurs  as  far  north  as  southern  Indiana, 
but  is  there  rare. 


Proc.  Bost.  Soc.  Nat,  Hist.,  XIX,  1877,  pp.  92,  93. 


THE  SURFACE  OF  NORTHEAST  FLORIDA.        45 

A  female  of  that  small  and  handsome,  blue-winged 
yellow  warbler,  Helminthophila  pinus  L.,  is  seen  in 
the  underbrush  along  a  sandy  roadway.  It  feeds 
fearlessly  on  a  low  shrub  within  ten  feet  of  me,  and 
once  flits  to  the  ground  for  some  morsel  which  it  espies 
from  above. 

Crossing  the  railway,  I  enter  the  low  hammock 
region — a  large,  marshy  tract  covered  with  a  dense 
growth  of  cabbage  palmetto  and  swamp-loving  under- 
brush, and  containing  numerous  pools  of  blackish 
water  scattered  through  it.  Indeed,  so  little  is  the  re- 
gion about  Ormond  and,  for  that  matter,  all  north- 
eastern Florida,  raised  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  that 
were  the  land  depressed  ten  or  twelve  feet  below 
low  water  mark,  the  ocean  would  once  more  assert  its 
sway  over  the  larger  portion,  leaving  exposed  only 
narrow  ridges  along  the  coast  and  low  islands  inland. 
At  present,  extensive  areas  are  under  water  through- 
out the  year,  and  the  surface  is  made  up  of  an  im- 
mense number  of  ponds,  creeks,  lagoons  and  swamps, 
intermingled  with  pine-barrens,  hammocks  covered 
with  hardwood  growth,  chaparrals  of  saw  palmetto, 
and  wet  marshes  overgrown  with  tall  reeds  or  rank 
grass. 

In  places,  tracts  of  the  low  hammocks  west  of  Or- 
niond  have  been  cleared,  partially  drained,  and  culti- 
vated— formerly  in  oranges,  now  in  vegetables.  A 
darkey  is  plowing  in  one  of  the  small  fields,  using  a 
single  horse.  Following  in  his  furrow  I  find  a  num- 


46  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

ber,  most  of  which  are  dead,  of  that  curious  snail, 
Polygyra  auriculata  Say.     It  is  known  only  from 
Florida,  and  is  readily  distinguished 
,  by    the    great    development    of    the 
parts  about  the  aperture,  which  are 
so  formed  as  to  somewhat  resemble 
an  ear,   whence   the   specific   name. 
Fig.  11.  Beneath  the  rubbish  near  the  mar- 

^  of  fofe  cleared  tract  I  also  take 
numerous  specimens  of  Physa  pomi- 
lia   Conrad,    and   a   very   large    ex- 
ample   of   millipede,    Spirobolus    spinigerus   Wood, 
which  the  darkey  said  was  sometimes  so  common 
that  he  could  gather  a  hat  full. 

Asking  him  about  lizards,  he  said  there  is  one 
about  eight  inches  long,  with  red  head  and  large  ears, 
which  lives  beneath  logs — "but,  O  Lawd,  boss,  I'se 
af eared  to  touch  him."  He  probably  referred  to  old 
specimens  of  Eumeces  fasciatus  L.,  a  very  common 
lizard  hereabouts.  Speaking  of  the  centipede,  Scol- 
opendra  morsitans,  he  said :  "It's  all  day  wiz 'yon-all 
if  one  of  them  air  centipedes  strikes  you.'7  When 
asked  if  their  bite  killed  a  person,  he  said,  "Xo,  but  it 
makes  'im  sick  fer  a  month." 

March  11,  1899. — To-day,  one  week  ago,  I  arrived 
in  the  "Land  of  Flowers."  At  this  season  of  the  year 
it  belies  its  name.  Few  are  the  flowers  which  I  have 
seen.  7Tis  a  land  of  sunshine,  but  too  often  the  icy 
breath  of  King  Boreas  sweeps  down  and  pinches  with 


A  GOLDEN-CROWNED  KINGLET. 


47 


unusual  vigor  the  fingers  and  toes  of  the  unprepared 
residents. 

This  morning  the  sun  rises  bright  from  old  ocean's 
bed.  The  birds  in  full  chorus  greet  its  appearance. 
Crows  call  with  that  peculiar  low  "kah"  character- 
istic of  them  here.  Blue  jays  utter  their  shrill,  quer- 
ulous cry  on  every  side.  In  the  bay  tree  in  the  back 
yard  a  golden-crowned  kinglet,  Eegulus  satrapa  Lich., 


Fig.  12— Golden-crowned  Kinglet. 

scolds  in  a  peculiar  wheezing  tone — a  scold  resem- 
bling the  subdued  note  of  a  hen's  cackle.  It  hops  as  it 
scolds,  here  and  there,  industriously  picking  mean- 
while at  whatever  appears  good  to  eat  on  the  ends  of 
the  branches. 

In  the  old  orange  orchard  I  to-day  secure  several 


48  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

examples  of  a  large  locust,  Schistocerca  damnificum 
Sauss.  It  is  closely  allied  to  8.  alutacea  Harris,  but 
the  antennae  of  the  male  are  shorter  and  the  yellow 
line  along  the  middle  of  pronotum  and  tegmina  is 
much  less  prominent,  while  the  notch  at  the  apex  of 
sub-genital  plate  of  the  same  sex  is  narrowly  V- 
shaped,  rather  than  broadly  U-shaped  as  in  alutacea. 
Many  specimens  of  damnificum  are  flushed  from 
clumps  of  a  coarse  brown  bunch  grass  the  exact  color 
of  its  body.  They  fly  long  distances  to  limbs  of  pine 
or  other  trees,  around  which  they  dodge,  and  from 
which  they  are  taken  with  the  hand.  The  Tryxalid, 
Amblytropidia  occidentalis  Sauss.,  once  before  men- 
tioned, has  become  common  in  this  old  orchard.  It, 
too,  occurs  only  in  the  clumps  of  brown  grass,  which 
give  it  protection  on  account  of  its  hue.  This  grass 
is,  for  the  most  part,  overgrown  with  tangled  masses 
of  smilax,  so  that  operations  are  necessarily  slow  and 
arduous.  When  aroused  these  locusts  fly  always  to  a 
clump  of  the  same  grass  and  dive  into  it,  burrowing 
down  among  the  roots  until  they  are  most  difficult  to 
find,  so  that  I  lose  more  than  I  take. 

That  large  and  handsome  sulphur-colored  butter- 
fly, Callidryas  eubule  L.,  is  just  emerging.  I  note  a 
number  of  them  to-day,  but  they  fly  wild  and  I  secure 
but  one  male.  It  ranges  from  central  Indiana,  where, 
in  August,  I  have  taken  it  in  numbers  on  the  sand 
hills  along  the  "Wabash  River,  southward  and  west- 
ward to  southern  California — a  vast  territory  for  so 


AT  ORMOND  BY  THE  SEA.  49 

frail  an  insect  to  have  covered.  But  the  various 
species  of  Cassia,  or  wild  senna,  on  the  foliage  of 
which  the  larvae  feed,  occur  over  the  same  range, 
and  so  have  rendered  possible  the  spread  of  the  in- 
sect. 

In  the  vicinity  of  Ormond  artesian  sulphur  water 
is  obtained  at  a  depth  of  150  feet ;  rising  four  to  six 
feet  above  the  surface  when  the  vein  is  tapped.  But 
few  springs  or  shallow  wells  are  found,  cistern  water 
being  mostly  used  where  the  artesian  bores  have  not 
been  sunk. 

March  12,  1899. — Three  days  ago  I  wore  an  over- 
coat, heavy  winter  underwear,  and  sought  the  sun. 
To-dav  I  am  dressed  in  thinnest  garb  at  my  command 
and  seek  the  shade.  Such  is  the  change  wrought  in 
the  temperature  of  the  air  about  me  by  the  unequal 
heating  of  certain  portions  of  the  atmosphere  sur- 
rounding this  earth  of  ours  and  a  consequent  shift- 
ing of  those  portions.  Three  days  ago  great  vol- 
umes of  cool  air  came  rushing  down  from  the  north. 
To-day  they  are  replaced  by  other  volumes  rushing 
up  from  the  south.  Too  few  people  realize  that  a 
change  in  temperature  is  but  a  change  in  that  por- 
tion of  the  atmospheric  ocean  which  surrounds  them ; 
great  waves  of  cold  air  from  another  part  of  that 
ocean  descending  and  pushing  out  the  warm,  or  ris- 
ing into  other  regions  to  fill  a  vacuum,  and  allowing 
waves  of  warm  air  to  take  their  place. 


50  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

As  with  the  winds,  or  waves  of  air,  so  with  the 
drifting  tides  of  a  man's  life.  A  year  ago  I  was 
happy  and  contented  with  those  I  love  in  the  far 
north.  To-day  'tis  Florida's  sky,  bright  and  beauti- 
ful, above  me.  Next  year,  it  may  be  Greenland's; 
cold,  cheerless  and  forbidding.  What  matters  it — 
the  world  wags  on.  The  memory  of  happier  days 
will  cling — can  not  be  shaken  off.  Then — 

"  Here's  a  sigh  to  those  who  love  me, 

And  a  smile  to  those  who  hate ; 
And  whatever  sky's  above  me, 
Here's  a  heart  for  every  fate." 

To-day  the  sand  burs  stick  closer  than  a  brother ; 
likewise  the  wood  ticks.  I  distribute  both  from  one 
field  to  another. 

The  first  tiger-beetle  which  I  have  seen  flits  from 
point  to  point  before  me  on  the  sandy  woodland  path. 
I  finally  succeed  in  casting  my  net  over  it  before  it 
can  arise,  and  find  it  to  be  a  male  of  Cidndela  uni- 
color  Dej.,  two-fifths  of  an  inch  in  length  and  a  uni- 
form dark  blue  in  color,  with  the  exception  of  the 
labrum  and  base  of  mandibles,  which  are  ivory  white. 
The  female,  taken  at  a  later  date,  is  dark  green  in 
hue,  with  the  mandibles  wholly  black.  Beetles  of  all 
kinds  seem  scarce  here  at  this  season.  It  appears 
that,  notwithstanding  the  quite  uniform  temperature 
which  prevails,  for  the  most  part,  throughout  the 
year,  the  dry  season,  which  corresponds  to  the  win- 


THE  AMERICAN  LOCUST.  51 

ter  months,  causes  a  disappearance  of  most  forms  of 
insect  life.  With  the  coming  of  March  they  begin 
gradually  to  reappear,  but  there  is  no  spring  flight 
of  beetles,  and  those  which  pass  the  dry  season  in  the 
perfect  or  imago  stage  seem  to  be  much  fewer  in 
number  than  in  the  north,  where  I  have  taken  three 
hundred  and  more  species  thus  hibernating.*  It  is 
said  that  not  until  the  beginning  of  the  wet  season, 
in  the  latter  part  of  May,  do  the  majority  of  the  sum- 
mer fauna  of  Coleoptera  and  other  orders  of  insects 
begin  to  make  their  appearance  in  Florida. 

Large  numbers  of  the  American  locust,  Schisto- 
cerca  americana  Drury,  have  now  reached  maturity. 
When  flushed  they  are  most  difficult  to  capture,  mov- 


Fig.  13  —  American  Grasshopper. 

Schistocerca  americana  Dru. 
(Male.) 


ing  in  rapid,  rollicking  flight  to  tree  or  tall  shrub 
and  alighting  usually  far  above  the  reach  of  my  net. 
It  was  probably  from  such  a  source  as  this  that  the 
large  numbers  of  mature  specimens  blown  into  In- 

*S«e  Psyche,  18%,  p.  336,  et  aeq.t  for  an  annotated  list  of  286  of  these. 


52  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

diana  on  April  11,  1893,  started  on  their  long  serial 
journey.* 

Chamseleons  run  swiftly  over  the  earth,  making  a 
rustling  noise  as  they  scurry  through  the  dead  leaves 
and  grass. 

The  long,  gray,  epiphytic  moss,  TiMandsia  usmoi- 
des  L.,  is  very  common  in  all  the  lower  portions  of 
east  Florida,  f  It  is  one  of  a  half  dozen  or  more  species 
of  the  same  genus  which  abound  in  the  State,  but 
the  only  one  with  filiform,  pendent  stems  and  green 
flowers.  Its  scurfy  and  hoary  clusters,  swinging  to 
and  fro  with  every  passing  breeze,  give  a  tinge  of  des- 
olation to  the  surroundings,  of  the  low  hammocks  and 
cause  a  deeper  sense  of  solitude  and  loneliness  in  the 
mind  of  the  wandering  naturalist  who  invades  their 
midst.  As  far  back  as  1793,  Bartram  wrote  of  it,  as 
follows:  "The  long  moss,  so  called,  is  a  singular  and 
surprising  vegetable  production;  it  grows  from  the 
limbs  and  twigs  of  all  trees  in  these  southern  regions. 
Wherever  it  fixes  itself,  on  a  limb  or  branch,  it 
spreads  into  short  and  intricate  divarications ;  these 
in  time  collect  dust,  wafted  by  the  wind,  which,  prob- 
ably by  the  moisture  it  absorbs,  softens  the  bark  and 
sappy  part  of  the  tree,  about  the  roots  of  the  plant, 
and  renders  it  more  fit  for  it  to  establish  itself ;  and 
from  this  small  beginning,  it  increases,  by  sending 

*See  Psyche,  June  1893,  p.  465;  also  the  author's  "Gleanings  from  Na- 
ture," p.  238. 

tFestoons  of  this  moss  are  shown  in  the  frontispiece,  hanging  from 
the  branches  above  the  cabin. 


THE  SPANISH  MOSS.  53 

downward  and  obliquely,  on  all  sides,  long  pendent 
branches,  which  divide  and  subdivide  themselves  ad 
infinitum.  It  is  common  to  find  the  spaces  betwixt 
the  limbs  of  large  trees  almost  occupied  by  this 
plant ;  it  also  hangs  waving  in  the  wind,  like  stream- 
ers, from  the  lower  limbs,  to  the  length  of  fifteen  or 
twenty  feet,  and  of  bulk  and  weight,  more  than  sev- 
eral men  together  could  carry;  and  in  some  places, 
cart  loads  of  it  are  lying  on  the  ground,  torn  off  by 
the  violence  of  the  wind.  Any  part  of  the  living 
plant,  torn  off  and  caught  in  the  limb  of  a  tree,  will 
presently  take  root,  grow  and  increase,  in  the  same 
degree  of  perfection,  as  if  it  had  sprung  up  from  the 
seed.  When  fresh,  cattle  and  deer  will  eat  it  in  the 
winter  season.  It  seems  particularly  adapted  to  the 
purpose  of  stuffing  mattresses,  chairs,  saddles,  collars, 
etc. ;  and  for  these  purposes  nothing  yet  known  equals 
it." 

That  the  use  of  this  moss  in  upholstery  has  become 
a  prominent  industry  is  shown  by  the  following  ex- 
tract from  a  recent  Government  publication:  "The 
long  moss,  when  gathered  by  men  known  as  'swamp- 
ers/ is  piled  up  and  allowed  to  rot  for  ten  or  twelve 
months.  It  loses  in  this  process  about  ninety  per 
cent,  of  its  weight,  and  is  then  shipped  to  the  fac- 
tories, where  it  is  cleaned,  dried  and  ginned,  the  final 
product  being  a  hard,  black  elastic  filament,  greatly 
resembling  horse  hair.  This  is  used  in  upholstering, 
either  alone  or  mixed  with  hair.  Six  moss  factories 


54  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

are  located  in  New  Orleans,  and  two  others  at  Pensa- 
cola,  Florida.  The  six  factories  at  New  Orleans  re- 
ceived, during  the  last  year,  3,500  bales  of  rough 
moss,  weighing  10,000,000  pounds,  and  valued  at 
$315,000.  A  considerable  amount,  however,  is 
ginned  in  the  country  and  shipped  direct  to  con- 
sumers, or  is  prepared  by  the  consumers  themselves. 
Persons  most  familiar  with  the  volume  of  this  indus- 
try estimate  that  the  value  of  the  prepared  moss  gath- 
ered annually  in  Louisiana,  the  principal  region  of 
supply,  is  not  far  from  $550,000.  The  amount  gath- 
ered, however,  varies  considerably  from  year  to  year. 
Moss  can  only  be  profitably  collected  at  times  of  high 
floods,  when  the  swamps  are  navigable  to  small  boats, 
and  the  moss,  hanging  from  the  branches  of  the  trees, 
can  be  easily  gathered.  The  wages  earned  by  the 
swampers,  too,  are  not  large,  and  the  gathering  of 
moss  is  only  resorted  to  when  more  profitable  em- 
ployment upon  farms  can  not  be  obtained." 

March  13,  1899. — 'Tis  hot,  hotter  than  ordinary 
March  days  here,  say  the  old  residents.  During  my 
walk  to  the  hammocks  beyond  the  railway  I  have 
chewed  the  bitter  cud  of  memory,  a  memory  of  a  past 
when  life  was  all  before  me  and  false  friends  were 
not  mine.  Then  I  had  no  favors  to  bestow.  As  soon 
as  one  possesses  such  favors  he  begins  to  make  ene- 
mies. Without  them  he  awakens  not  jealous  conten- 
tions and  fierce  fights  for  plunder.  He  can  walk 
forth,  a  free  man,  happy  in  his  poverty,  contented 


GIANT  CLICK  BEETLES. 


55 


in  his  thought.  Experience  has  taught  me,  as 
it  will  every  man  in  time,  that  health  and  content- 
ment are  the  two  most  precious  gifts  vouchsafed  to 
mortal  man  during  his  brief  sojourn  here  on  earth. 
They  alone-  make  up  what  the  average  person  calls 
"happiness  here  below." 

Tearing  off  the  bark  from  the  base  of  a  rotten  pine 
stump  I  make  my  first  capture  of  the  morning — a  fe- 
male of  the  large  southern  Ela- 
terid,  or  click  beetle,  Alaus  my  ops 
Fabr.      It    is    one    and    one-half 
inches  in  length,  and  is  the  sec- 
ond largest  representative  of  its 
family   occurring   in   the   United 
States,  being  exceeded  only  by  A. 
oculatus  L.,  which  ranges  farther 
north.      A   female    of   the   latter 
species    from    Indiana    measures 
one     and    three-quarters     inches. 
The    males    of   both   species   are 
smaller,  averaging  but  little  over 
an  inch  in  length.     A.   my  ops  is 
dark  brown,  clouded  with  ash  gray,  and  the  eye-like 
velvet  spots  on  the  pro-thorax  are  dim  and  narrowly 
oval ;  whereas  oculatus  is  black,  sprinkled  here  and 
there  with  silver  gray,  and  has  the  eye  spots  round 
and  prominent.    The  larval  stage  of  both  is  passed  in 
decaying  oak,  apple  and  pine  wood. 

The  members  of  the  family  Elateridce,  of  which 
A.  myops  and  A.  oculatus  are  the  giant  representa- 


Fig.  14. 

Alan*  oculatus  I,. 


56  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

tives  in  this  country,  are  commonly  known  as  skip- 
jacks, spring  beetles,  snapping  beetles  or  snapping 
bugs.  They  are  very  numerous,  both  in  species  and 
in  individuals,  and  the  young  of  a  number  of  them 
are  injurious,  being  the  wire  worms  which  prey  upon 
the  roots  of  grass,  corn,  and  other  cereals.  When 
placed  upon  their  backs  all  of  these  beetles  have  the 
power  of  leaping  into  the  air  and  turning  over; 
whence  the  common  names  above  mentioned.  This 
power  has  brought  them  to  the  attention  of  many  per- 
sons who  otherwise  would  have  passed  them  by  un- 
noticed, and  much  wonder  has  doubtless  been  caused 
as  to  how  the  leaping  motion  was  brought  about. 
When  the  beetle,  by  accident  or  otherwise,  finds  itself 
on  its  back,  it  folds  its  legs  and  antennae  closely 
against  the  body  and  for  a  time  simulates  death. 
When  it  thinks  the  danger  is  over  it  bends  back  the 
head  and  pro-thorax  as  far  as  possible.  This  action 
lifts  a  spine  attached  to  the  hind  margin  of  the  pro- 
sternum  (under  side  of  pro-thorax)  out  of  a  groove  in 
which  it  ordinarily  rests.  This  groove  is  in  the  front 
margin  of  the  meso-sternum,  and  directly  beneath  the 
bases  of  the  elytra  or  outer  wings.  After  withdraw- 
ing this  spine  to  its  full  extent,  the  muscles  are  sud- 
denly relaxed,  allowing  the  spine  to  descend  violently 
into  the  cavity.  The  force  given  by  this  sudden  move- 
ment causes  the  bases  of  the  elytra  to  strike  the  earth 
or  other  substance  upon  which  they  rest,  and,  by 
their  elasticity,  the  whole  body  is  propelled  upward 


INSECTS  AND  THISTLES.  57 

sometimes  to  a  height  of  several  inches.  If,  during 
the  act  of  rising  and  falling,  the  acrobat  turns  over 
and  alights  on  its  feet,  all  is  well.  If  not,  the  process 
is  repeated  until  it  finally  alights  right  side  up  with 
care. 

The  spring  flowers  of  this  locality  are  beginning 
to  blossom.  A  dainty  little  Legume,  with  petals  pink 
and  white,  grows  in  abundance  in  the  damp  sand 
along  the  railway.  A  large  coarse-leaved  thistle, 
Carduus  horridulus  Pursh.,  is  in  bud  and  flower,  with 
one  head  mature.  On  its  flowers  are  two  specimens 
of  Papilio  palamedes  Drury,  and  a  greenish  bee.  Be- 
neath its  bracts  and  in  the  angles  of  its  upper  leaves 
are  two  species  of  Heteroptera,  or  true  bugs,  and 
two  of  beetles,  the  most  common  of  which  is  a  small, 
light  brown  snout  beetle,  Notolomus  basalis  Lee. 
Both  bugs  and  beetles  appear  in  a  dazed,  or  comatose, 
condition.  They  have  probably  been  sipping  the 
juices  excreted  from  the  glands  on  the  outside  of  the 
involucral  scales.  In  the  north,  many  beetles  and 
other  insects  become  dazed  or  intoxicated  by  feeding 
upon  the  excretion  of  similar  glands  on  the  involucral 
scales  of  Carduus  discolor  Gray.* 

One  of  the  bugs  taken  on  the  thistle  is  Thyanta  cus- 
tator  Fabr.,  a  brownish  green  form,  one-third  of  an 
inch  in  length,  which  occurs  throughout  the  United 
States,  but  is  more  common  in  the  south.  It  belongs 
to  the  "stink-bug"  tribe,  whose  members  protect 

*  See  Can.  Ent.,  XXIV,  1892,  p.  310. 


58  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

themselves  by  exuding  a  drop  or  two  of  liquid  having 
a  very  disagreeable  odor,  from  two  openings,  one  on 
each  side  of  the  lower  part  of  the  body  near  the  base 
of  the  middle  legs.  Birds,  and  people,  too,  for  that 
matter,  soon  learn  to  avoid  the  bugs  which  excrete 
this  odor.  Many  a  boy,  while  berry  hunting  in  the 
country,  has  clapped  a  number  of  berries  into  his 
mouth,  only  to  experience  a  smarting  sensation  and 
a  nauseating  taste,  brought  about  by  the  acidulous 
liquid  from  the  glands  of  a  stink-bug  which  accom- 
panied the  berries.  In  this  way,  if  in  no  other,  the 
boy  learned  the  virtues  of  the  protective  principle 
possessed  by  the  stink-bug  tribe,  and  future  stink- 
bugs,  if  not  the  one  in  the  mouth,  profited  as  a  result. 
Birds  probably  learn  to  avoid  the  use  of  stink-bugs 
for  food  in  much  the  same  manner;  though,  like 
many  other  traits  of  the  lower 
animals,  this  knowledge  may 
in  them  be  instinctive  rather 
than  acquired. 

The  second  species  of  bug  on 
the  thistle  is  Leptoglossus  phyl- 
lopus  L.,  dark  reddish  brown  in 
color    and    three-fourths    of    an 
inch  in  length.  A  distinct,  narrow 
whitish  band   crosses   the   outer 
wings ;  while  the  hind  tibiae  bear 
broad,  flattened,  leaf-like  projections,   each  with  a 
small  white  spot  near  its  inner  edge.     This  is  a  true 


DOWN  THE  HALIFAX  RIVER.  59 

southern  insect,  and  is  thought  to  be  beneficial,  inas- 
much as  it' has  been  found  feeding  on  its  distant 
cousin,  the  injurious  harlequin  cabbage  bug  Mur- 
gantia  Tiistrionica  Halm. ;  however,  it  is  known  to 
injure  cotton  bolls  and  oranges. 

In  the  afternoon  I  visit  Captain  Wardwell,  the 
owner  of  a  small  steamer  which  plies  up  and  down 
the  Halifax  River.  He  is  a  good  observer  of  nature, 
and  showed  me  many  interesting  specimens.  Among 
them  were  part  of  a  tusk,  a  tooth  and  several  verte- 
bra of  a  mastodon,  Mastodon  americanus  Linn., 
taken  in  the  marl  beds  underlying  a  nearby  ham- 
mock; also  the  "ear  bones"  of  a  whale,  picked  up  on 
the  beach. 

March  14,  1899. — This  morn  I  arose  at  5:30 
o'clock,  breakfasted  at  six  and  rode  in  an  ice  wagon 
to  Daytona,  a  village  five  miles  below  Ormond.  Here 
I  took  a  gasoline  launch  with  a  party  bound  for  Mos- 
quito Inlet,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Halifax  River.  The 
ride  was  a  pleasant  one.  The  lower  part  of  the 
river  is  dotted  with  many  islands.  On  these  grows  in 
profusion  that  curious  tropical  production,  the  man- 
grove, Rliizophora  mangle  L.,  a  small  tree  or  shrub, 
with  obovate-oblong  leathery  leaves  and  seeds  which 
germinate  within  the  fruit  while  the  latter  is  still 
hanging  on  the  branch.  The  radicle  extends  down- 
ward until  it  reaches  the  ground  where  it  roots,  thus 
forming  new  trees  and  almost  impenetrable  thickets. 


60  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

Mosquito  Inlet  is  the  northernmost  point  at  which  the 
mangrove  flourishes. 

Oyster  beds  are  very  common  in  this  portion  of 
the  river;  their  product  being  gathered  and  sold  at 
points  higher  up.  At  last  we  arrived — 

' '  At  the  inlet  bar  where  the  yellow  sands 

Gleam  bare  when  the  tide  is  low, 
And  the  crested  line  of  the  tumbling  brine 
Flings  the  froth  like  driven  snow." 

The  Atlantic  is  here  much  wilder  than  at  Ormond, 
the  breakers  extending  farther  out,  and  the  beach, 
or  distance  between  high  and  low  tides,  twice  as  wide. 
Sea  shells  were  much  more  abundant,  but  were,  for 
the  most  part,  species  of  Area  and  other  common 
forms. 

The  most  prominent  objects  along  the  beach  were 
several  pairs  of  king,  or  horse-shoe,  crabs,  Limulus 
polyphemus  L.  Most  interesting  to  naturalists  are 
they  on  account  of  being  the  sole  living  representa- 
tives of  a  great  group  of  crustaceans  which,  beginning 
in  the  Lower  Silurian,  culminated  in  the  Upper  Silur- 
ian,  and  practically  died  out  at  the  close  of  the  Coal 
period.  The  Eurypterids  of  the  water-lime  forma- 
tion were  the  giants  of  this  group,  while  the  triloj 
bites  of  the  different  ages  were  its  most  common  rep- 
resentatives. 

The  female  of  the  largest  pair  of  king  crabs  on  the 
beach  measured  twenty-three  inches  in  length  by  ten 


KING  CRABS. 


inches  in  breadth.     The  male  was  little  more  than 
half  as  large.     They  have  two  pairs  of  compound 
eyes,  a  horse-shoe  shaped  cephalo-thorax,  composed 
of  six  segments,   and   an  abdo- 
men of  nine  segments,  the  last 
of  which  forms  a  long  spine,  or 
bayonet-like  tail.      Six  pairs   of 
appendages  are  attached  to  the 
cephalo-thorax,     the     hand    and 
opposing     thumb     of     the     first 
pair  being  modified  in  the  male, 
to  serve  as  clasping  organs.     It 
is   said   that   along   the   Florida 
coast  the  eggs  are  laid  in  May, 
being  deposited  by  the  mother 
in  the  sand  between  the  limits 
of    high    and    low    tide.      They 
hatch   in   six  weeks,   the  young 
being  but  one-quarter  of  an  inch 
in  length.     At  the  end  of  a  year 
they  are  but  one  inch  long,  so  that  a  specimen  the 
size  of  the  one  I  measured  must  have  been  a  hoary 
patriarch. 

The  king  crabs  burrow  in  the  sand,  and  are  said  to 
live  mainly  on  sea  worms,  though  the  decaying  bodies 
of  fishes  and  other  aquatic  animals  probably  furnish 
them  much  food.  They  swim  but  clumsily,  crawling, 
for  the  most  part,  slowly  along  the  bottom.  They  are 
sometimes  called  "sauce-pans,"  on  account  of  the 
shape  of  the  shield  of  the  cephalo-thorax,  which  is 


Fig.  16— Horse-shoe 
Crab. 

(Oreatly  reduced.) 


62  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

often  used  to  bail  out  boats.  Hogs  and  poultry  relish 
them  much  as  food  and  many  are  speared  for  that 
purpose. 

One  which  I  turned  over  on  its  back  succeeded  in 
righting  itself  after  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour's  ef- 
fort. It  did  this  by  bending  back  the  front  portion 
of  the  shield  as  far  as  possible ;  then  turning  one  edge 
against  the  sand  and  using  the  tail  as  a  lever,  it 
finally,  after  many  efforts,  went  over  with  a  flop. 
This  is  contrary  to  the  statement  of  that  eminent  nat- 
uralist, Thomas  Say,  who  wrote  of  them  as  follows: 
"When  cast  ashore  by  the  waves,  if  they  fall  on  the 
back,  they  can  not  recover  their  proper  position. 
Many  people  feed  their  hogs  upon  them,  and  it  is  said 
that  some  hogs  that  roam  at  large  in  the  districts 
where  they  abound,  become  acquainted  with  the  fact 
of  their  inability  to  turn  themselves  when  placed  on 
the  back,  and  when  there  happens  to  be  a  scarcity, 
with  a  provident  sagacity,  they  turn  as  many  as  they 
can  eat,  or  as  are  within  their  view,  before  they  pro- 
ceed to  satisfy  their  hunger.  This  fact  with  respect 
to  one  hog  was  related  to  me  on  good  authority."* 

Several  examples  of  the  brown  pelican,  Pelccanus 
fuscus  Linn.,  were  noted  flying  along  the  shore  and 
wading  in  the  shallow  pools.  They  appear  to  be  a 
dusky  gray  rather  than  a  brown  in  color,  and  are 
smaller  than  the  white  pelican,  P.  erytlirorlujnclios 
Gmel.,  which  ranges  north  as  far  as  the  Great  Lakes. 


*  Jourp.  Phil.  Acad.  Nat.  Sciences,  1, 1818,  p.  435. 


FIDDLER  CRABS  t)3 

A  fish  hawk  was  seen  to  catch  a  large  fish,  and,  after 
rising  50  feet  in  air,  utter  two  squealing  notes  and 
drop  it  back  into  the  sea.  I  looked  around,  expecting 
to  see  a  bald  eagle,  and  hear  the  rush  of  its  wings, 
but  nothing  was  in  sight.  Possibly  the  fish  saved  its 
life  by  being  too  great  a  burden  for  the  bird  to  carry. 
Those  curious  little  crustaceans,  the  fiddler  -crabs, 
Uca  pugilator  Bosc.,  are  very  abundant  near  the  in- 
let, as  they  are  also  along  the  river  banks  at  Ormond. 
They  are  easily  recognized  by  the  extraordinary  de- 
velopment of  one  of  the  claws  or  chelae  of  the  males. 
This  large  claw  is  used  in  fighting,  which  accounts  for 


Fig.  17-Fiddler  Crab. 


its  size  and  strength.  In  the  same  way  a  man's  right 
arm  is  larger  than  the  left  on  account  of  its  more  ac- 
tive use.  The  females  have  little  cause  for  fighting, 
and  both  claws  are,  therefore,  small.  The  large  arm 


64  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

of  the  male  fiddler  may  be  either  on  the  right  or  left 
side.  In  its  movements  on  land,  which  are  sidewise, 
very  rapid  and  ludicrous,  it  carries  the  enlarged  hand 
above  the  ground,  but  on  the  slightest  alarm,  stops 
and  raises  it,  extending  the  fingers  in  a  threatening 
manner.  This  arm  is  also  used  to  beckon  or  challenge 
other  males  of  their  kind  to  a  fight,  hence  they  are 
sometimes  called  acalling  crabs."  They  burrow  just 
above  high  water  mark  along  the  banks  of  the  river 
and  brackish  marshes,  honeycombing  the  ground  with 
innumerable  openings  of  such  a  size  that  when  they 
retreat  therein  the  great  claw  serves  as  a  clog  or 
stopper  for  the  entrance.  These  fiddler  crabs  are 
much  used  as  bait  for  fish,  and  myriads  of  them 
doubtless  fall  a  prey  to  crows,  herons,  gulls  and  other 
shore  visiting  birds. 

That  fish-like  mammal,  the  harbor  porpoise,  or 
puffing  pig,  Phoccena  communis  Lesson,  is  common 
along  the  East  Florida  coast,  and  ascends  the  Halifax 
River  as  far  as  Daytona.  A  number  were  seen  to- 
day, both  in  the  surf  of  the  ocean  and  in  the  river, 
the  former  in  herds  or  shoals,  wallowing  and  sport- 
ing, and  ever  and  anon  turning  and  exposing  their 
paler  under  surfaces.  They  reach  a  length  of  five  and 
a  half  feet,  and  are  said  to  feed  almost  wholly  upon 
fish.  From  their  blubber  a  fine  oil  is  made,  and  their 
skins  are  utilized  for  leather,  but  the  flesh  is  impreg- 
nated with  the  oily  taste  and  strong  odor  character- 
istic of  all  fish-eating  animals. 


EARL  Y  SPRING  DA  YS.  65 

March  15,  1899. — I  sit  at  the  base  of  a  yellow,  or 
short-leaved,  pine,  Pinus  mitis  Michx.,  my  head 
against  its  fragrant  trunk  which  rises,  far  out-topping 
the  -grove  of  cabbage  palmettos  in  the  midst  of  which 
it  stands.  My  muscles  are  tired  and  my  brain  aweary, 
the  results  of  yesterday's  trip,  which  was  too  much 
for  me  in  my  present  weakened  condition. 

As  I  came  out  of  the  woods  this  morning  and 
struck  the  railway,  I  thought  of  it  as  that  bond  which 
makes  the  whole  world  kin.  From  ocean  to  ocean  it 
stretches  away;  from  lake  to  gulf  its  rails  and  sleep- 
ers lie.  Over  its  bed  come  daily  tidings  from  the  far 
north,  where  yet  the  ice  king  holds  his  thrall  and 
rules  over  all  with  bonds  of  frozen  moisture.  Here, 
balmy  the  breeze  that  kisses  my  brow,  blowing  as  it 
does  from  the  Gulf  Stream,  120  miles  to  the  south- 
east. In  a  letter  received  this  morn  a  friend  has 
used  the  word  "luxuriate."  That  is  what  I  am  try- 
ing to  do.  Soothing  the  sunshine  !  Let  it  fall  around 
me  and  fill  my  body  and  soul  with  new  energy.  Let 
it  rejuvenate  me. 

The  sight  of  a  tadpole  in  a  pool  of  dark  water  be- 
side the  railway  had  a  thrilling  effect  upon  me  as  I 
trudged  hither.  It  awakened  the  cells  of  memory 
and  caused  me  to  think  thoughts  and  dream  dreams 
of  other  spring  days  in  the  calendar  of  my  life ;  of 
other  days  when  the  frogs  sang  for  the  first  time, 
when  the  first  chewinks  and  fox  sparrows  darted  be- 
fore me  from  my  pathway — when  every  bud  felt  the 


66  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

influence  of  such  a  breeze  as  that  now  fanning  my 
cheek — when  sap  ran  riot  in  the  veins  of  plants  and 
insects'  wings  began  their  humming. 

The  colored  section  hands  have  cut  down  the  this- 
tle which,  two  days  ago,  blossomed  for  me.  Me- 
thinks  no  one  but  I  saw  the  beauty  of  its  bloom — I 
and  the  insects  which  it  attracted  unto  itself. 

Along  the  margin  of  the  marsh  before  me  grows, 
in  these  pine  and  palmetto  woods,  a  shrubby  buck- 
eye, JEsculus  pavia  L.,  now  putting  forth  its  hand- 
some oblong  panicles  of  rose  red  flowers.  Insects  by 
scores  are  visitors  thereto,  but,  for  the  most  part,  they 
are  the  common  species  of  butterflies. 

A  ^are-footed,  freckle-faced  white  boy,  a  dozen 
years  of  age  or  thereabouts,  from  whom  I  purchased 
some  chamseleons  a  few  days  ago,  meets  me  on  the 
way  hither  and  greets  me  as  an  old  friend.  I  had 
asked  him  to  capture  some  snakes  for  me,  and  he 
tells  me  that  he  has  one  coral  snake,  but  adds  that 
"snake  hunting  is  hard  work."  He  expects  a  quarter 
of  a  dollar  for  the  one  he  has,  and  I  tell  him  to  bring 
it  down  to  the  village  in  a  few  days. 

I  pull  the  bark  from  about  the  trunk  of  a  dead 
pine,  five  feet  in  diameter,  for  as  high  as  I  can  reach. 
A  careful  inspection  of  both  bark  and  trunk  yields 
but  three  species  of  beetles,  and  one  of  these,  a 
StapJiylinid,  I  fail  to  capture.  One  of  the  others  is 
Morio  monilicorms  Lat.,  a  slender,  dark,  shining- 
brown  carabid,  two-thirds  of  an  inch  in  length;  the 


PAPAWS  AND  BUTTERFLIES.  67 

other,  a  male  of  the  purblind  click  beetle,  Alaus 
myops  Fabr.  A  dead  hardwood  tree  of  similar  size 
in  Indiana  would  have  yielded  a  half-dozen  or  more 
species,  even  in  March. 

A  bevy  of  quails  is  flushed.  With  unerring  sight 
they  wing  their  way  among  the  thickly  growing  pal- 
mettos and  pines,  striking  none,  but  dodging  now  to 
the  right,  now  to  the  left,  in  swift,  unbroken  flight. 

Several  specimens  of  a  form  of  the  zebra  butter- 
fly, Papilio  ajax  L.,  are  seen,  but  they  fly  wild  and  es- 
cape the  net.  The  papaw,  Asimina  triloba  Dunal, 


Fig.  18— Red  Admiral. 

(The  under  side  of  wing  in  shown  on  the  right.) 

upon  which  the  larvae  of  this  butterfly  feed  in  the 
north,  is  said  not  to  grow  in  this  vicinity.  It  is  prob- 
able, however,  that  the  closely  allied  southern  forms, 
A.  grandi flora  and  A.  pygmcea  Dunal,  occur  near 
here,  though,  as  yet,  I  have  seen  no  sign  of  them. 
The  presence  of  the  butterfly  denotes  that  they  are 
here.  A  pair  of  red  admirals,  Pymmeis  atalanta  L., 


68  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

are  before  me,  flitting  up  and  down  and  over  and  over 
in  serial  courtship. 

A  large  pileated  woodpecker  moves  in  swift,  gal- 
loping flight  from  the  side  of  a  dead  hickory,  where 
he  has  been  prodding  for  large  red  ants,  to  the  top  of 
a  lofty  pine.  There  he"  pauses,  glances  askance  at 
me,  the  intruder  on  his  domain,  then  utters  his  shrill, 
resounding  call,  which  echoes  far  and  wide  through- 
out the  forest.  An  answering  call  is  soon  returned 
from  the  northward,  upon  hearing  which  he  wings  his 
way  in  the  direction  from  whence  it  came. 

March  16,  1899. — It  pays  to  take  little  trips  to  one 
side  of  the  beaten  pathway.  This  morning  I  went 
into  the  brambles  and  worked  for  fifteen  minutes 
about  some  old  decaying  pine  logs.  The  result  was  a 
"mule  killer/'  or  vinegerone,  two  true  scorpions  and 
a  centipede — all  "sure  death"  to  the  natives  of  this 
region. 

The  vinegerone,  or  whip  scorpion,  Thelyphonus  gi- 
ganteus  Lucas,  possesses  eight  legs  and  belongs  to  the 
group  Pedipalpi,  of  the  order  Arachnida.  It  is,  there- 
fore, allied  to  the  spiders,  mites  and  scorpions,  more 
especially  to  the  latter.  It  is  a  hideous,  dark  brown, 
crab-like  creature,  two  and  a  half  inches  in  length, 
with  a  long  and  very  slender,  many-jointed  telson, 
like  the  lash  of  a  whip,  attached  to  the  end  of  the  ab- 
domen. The  palpi  are  much  enlarged,  bear  several 
coarse  teeth,  and  end  in  more  or  less  perfectly  formed 
pincers.  The  front  pair  of  legs  are  much  longer  and 


THE  WHIP  SCORPION. 


69 


more  slender  than  the  others.    Though  greatly  feared 

by  most  persons,  it  is  not  poisonous.     The  forceps 

with  which  I  captured 

the  specimen    at    hand 

are     strongly     impreg- 

nated with  the  odor  of 

acetic  acid,  one  of  the 

constituents  of  vinegar. 

This  comes  from  a  fluid 

which  the  animal,  when 

alarmed,  excretes  as  a 

means  of  defense,  hence 

the      common     names, 

vinaigrier    and   vinege- 

rone.       In    habits    the 

whip    scorpion    is    noc- 

turnal,   hiding   by   day 

beneath     rubbish     and 

feeding   at  night  upon 

insects  and  other  of  the 

lower  forms  of  .animal 

life.     It  occurs  only  in 

tropical    and    Semi-trOpi- 

cal    regions  —  another 

specimen   in  my   collection   having  been   taken   in 

southwestern  Texas. 

The  true  scorpions  which  I  found  about  Ormond 
are  all  of  small  size  and  of  one  species,  Centrums 
Jientzi  Banks.  They  belong  to  the  Scorpionida,  a 
group  coordinate  with  the  Pedipalpi  above  noticed, 


Fig.  M-WMP  Scorpion. 

(About  three-fourtHs  natural  ilze.) 


A  NATURE  WOOING. 


and  characterized  by  possessing  a  long,  slender  post- 
abdomen,  which  can  be  curled  up  over  the  back  and 
which  is  armed  at  the  end  with  a  sharp  sting  or  telson, 
hooked  like  a  claw.  •  This  is  con- 
nected with  a  venom  gland,  so 
that  its  puncture  inflicts  a  wound 
which  is  very  painful.  In  C. 
hentzi  the  sting  has  a  small  tu- 
bercle or  supplementary  spine 
beneath  it;  the  body  is  striped 
with  black  and  yellow;  the  cau- 
dal portion  being  brown,  and  the 
legs  yellow  barred  with  brown. 
The  largest  one  of  a  number 
taken  measured  but  one  and  a 
half  inches  in  total  length.  For 
the  most  part,  they  were  found 
beneath  bark  or  between  piles  of  logs.  They  also  are 
nocturnal  and  carnivorous  in  habit;  seizing  their 
prey,  which  consists  mainly  of  spiders  and  insects, 
with  the  chelae,  and  then  stinging  it.  The  young  are 
said  to  be  born  alive  and  are  carried  about  by  the 
mother  for  some  time,  attaching  themselves  to  her 
body  by  means  of  their  slender  pincers. 

In  a  small  clearing  in  the  underbrush  I  also  took 
to-day  two  females  of  a  handsome,  green,  cone-headed 
grasshopper,  Conocephalus  nietoi  Sauss.  The  fastig- 
ium,  or  projecting  cone  of  the  head,  is  short,  stout. 


Fig.  20— A  True 
Scorpion. 


A  DARKEY'S  OPINION.  71 

rounded  at  the  tip  and  margined  in  front  with  black. 
The  ovipositor  is  the  same  length  as  the  body,  one 
and  one-quarter  inches,  while  the  tegmina,  or  outer 
wings,  are  two  inches.  They  were  on  clumps  of  green 
grass,  into  which  they  tried  to  escape  by  burrowing. 
A  third  specimen  and  a  brown  form  of  the  same 
species  were  taken  on  later  dates. 

In  the  afternoon  I  visited  the  shell  mound  and  dug 
for  a  while  in  its  debris,  taking  out  several  pieces  of 
broken  pottery  and  a  bone  awl.  I  have  interested  a 
darkey,  who  is  hauling  the  shells  to  town  for  side- 
walks, and  he  to-day  presented  me  with  a  small  per- 
forated bone  ornament,  which  he  had  found  while 
loading  his  cart.  He  is  a  typical  "cracker  negro," 
jolly  and  talkative  on  all  occasions.  He  said  to-day 
that  that  which  surprised  him  was  the  way  in  which 
a  northern  man  worked.  "A  southern  gemmen,  after 
getting  fifteen  or  twenty  thousand  dollahs,  will  set 
down  and  do  nuffiV  but  enjoy  hisself  fo'  de  rest  o' 
his  days,  but  the  northern  gemmen,  he  jes'  keeps  a 
wukin'  on,  same  as  evah,  even  if  he  is  wuf  a  hundred 
thousand  dollahs." 

March  11,  1899. — Once  more  I  rest  my  head 
against  the  bole  of  the  pine  tree  in  the  palmetto 
woods.  Once  more  the  breeze  from  the  Gulf  Stream 
fans  my  brow,  but  it  is  cooler  than  when  I  was  here 
before.  For  fifteen  years  I  have  been  a  naturalist. 
They  have  been  years  full  of  work,  of  hopes,  of  am- 
bitions. Happiest  those  days  when  I  have  been  alone 


72  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

in  woods  and  fields,  when  I  wa's  learning  for  the 
first  time  lessons  from  nature — lessons  purer,  nobler 
and  better  than  I  ever  expect  to  learn  from  the  books 
of  man — lessons  showing  me  the  close  relationship 
existing  among  all  animate  and  inanimate  things- 
teaching  me  that  this  world,  this  universe  of  ours,  is 
not  made  up  of  single,  isolated  objects  and  forces, 
but  that  each  object,  each  force  is  but  a  necessary 
part  of  one  grand  and  perfect  whole.  At  the  end  of 
fifteen  years  I  am  still  a  tyro — still  learning  daily 
new  facts  from  the  book  of  nature,  still,  and  ever  ex- 
pect to  be,  a  tramp  naturalist.  I  still  delight  to  chase 
the  winged  butterfly  o'er  field  and  pasture ;  draw  the 
seine  through  ripple  and  shallow  for  silvery  minnow 
and  rainbow  darter — climb  hill  and  wade  pond  for 
partridge  berry  or  water  lily,  or  wander  all  day 
through  thicket  and  forest  in  search  of  hermit  thrush 
and  hooded  warbler. 

I  am  not  a  specialist  in  any  branch  of  natural  his- 
tory, nor  do  I  ever  expect  to  be  one.  I  do  not  desire 
to  spend  my  life  in  pondering  over  the  synonymy, 
and  studying  the  minute  structure  of  the  organs  of 
some  particular  group  of  animal  or  plant  life.  The 
world  at  large  will  never  know  me  as  an  eminent 
ichthyologist  or  botanist,  ornithologist  or  entomolo- 
gist, geologist  or  conchologist,  but  I  wish  to  know 
myself  as  being,  in  a  small  way,  an  ichtho-bota-orni- 
geo-concho-entom-etc.-gist,  and  so  be  able  to  see  more 
and  more  clearly  as  time  goes  on  the  mutual  relations 


AT  ORMOND  BY  THE  SEA.  73 

and  interdependence  of  the  various  classes  of  nature's 
objects.  Such  a  course  will  never  bring  me  the  re- 
nown that  I  might  have  achieved  had  I  become  a 
specialist ;  but  what  is  renown  as  compared  with  pres- 
ent happiness  and  pleasure  ?  And  then,  as  Emerson, 
in  his  Essay  on  Nature,  says:  "In  the  woods  a  man 
caste  off  his  years  as  the  snake  his  slough,  and  at  what 
period  soever  of  life  is  always  a  child.  In  the  woods 
is  perpetual  youth."  I  do  not  desire  to  grow  old  too 
soon,  and  so  will  seek  in  the  way  that  I  have  chosen 
that  fountain  of  youth  which  Ponce  de  Leon  sought 
for  in  vain  on  the  coast  where  I  am  now  sitting. 

But  little  has,  as  yet,  this  morning  been  added  to 
my  store.  A  small,  dark  brown  butterfly,  Nison- 
iades  ncevius  Lint.,  expanding  an  inch  and  a  half 
and  with  a  rather  large,  irregular  umber  spot  on  the 
fore  wings  in  front  of  four  very  small  sub-apical 
whitish  spots,  was  taken.  It  has  heretofore  been 
known  only  from  the  region  of  the  Indian  River,  one 
hundred  and  forty  miles  to  the  south.  A  small  blue 
Thecla  and  a  Pamphila  were  also  seen,  but  escaped 
the  net. 

I  pull  the  bark  from  the  bole  of  a  fallen  yellow 
pine.  A  "red-headed"  lizard,  Eumeces  fasciatus  L., 
about  ten  inches  in  length,  scurries  away  and  runs 
into  a  crevice  of  the  upturned  root  partially  buried  in 
the  sand.  I  go  after  him  with  a  trowel.  While  I  am, 
at  work  a  mature  roach,  Ischnoptera  unicolor  Scudd., 
starts  "to  fly  away.  I  knock  it  down  with  the  trowel, 


74  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

and  another  March  Orthopteran  is  added  to  my  Flor- 
ida list.    The  lizard  is  finally  unearthed.    The  last  jab 
of  the  trowel  unluckily  "details"  him,  but  the  tail 
and  body,  both  squirming,  are  con- 
signed to  the  bottle  of  alcohol.     A 
few  minutes  later  a  young  example 
of  the  same  lizard,   six  inches   in 
length,    and    possessing    a    bright 
blue   tail,    is    taken.      This    lizard 
is  the  only  one  of  our  North  Amer- 
Fig.2i.  ican  species  which  has  the  distinc- 

tion   of  bei        "red-headed"   when 

(Male.)  c 

old,  and  "blue-tailed"  when  young. 
The  variations  between  these  two  forms  are  many 
and  have  been  the  cause  of  much  confusion  in  the 
descriptions  of  the  animal.  Even  Holbrook,  the 
father  of  American  Herpetology,  described  and  fig- 
ured the  two  forms  as  different,  calling  the  old  red- 
headed one  Scincus  quinquelineatus,  and  the  younger 
blue-tailed  one,  8.  fasciatus. 

In  a  marl  outcrop  in  a  cut  of  the  railway  at  the 
edge  of  a  hammock  a  mile  northwest  of  Ormond,  the 
so-called  "marl"  is  found  to  be  a  mass  of  finely  com- 
minuted shells,  mingled  with  larger  pieces  of  oyster, 
clam,  conch,  and  other  recent  shells,  now  common 
along  the  beach.  The  thickness  of  this  shell  deposit 
could  not  be  determined.  Over  it  is  a  foot  (eight  to 
fourteen  inches)  of  a  reddish,  sandy  loam.  This  is 


ORIGIN  OF  HAMMOCKS.  75 

overlain  by  three  inches  of  whitish  sand,  above  which 
one  to  three  inches  of  vegetable  humus  forms  the  sur- 
face. But  a  few  thousand  years  have  elapsed  since 
this  broken  mass  of  shells  was  a  part  of  the  ocean's 
bed.  Over  it  the  reddish  sand,  already  noted  as  at 
present  occupying  much  of  the  space  between  the  lim- 
its of  high  and  low  tide,  was  deposited  by  the  water. 
The  white  sand  was  then  blown  over  this  by  the  wind, 
just  as  it  is  now  being  spread  by  that  agency  over  the 
red  along  the  sea  beach.  The  saw  palmetto  and  allied 
vegetation  which  first  secured  a  foothold  in  the  sand, 
died  down  and  formed  the  beginning  of  the  vegetable 
mold,  which  has  gradually  increased  in  thickness  by 
the  decay  of  many  hundreds  of  generations  of  more 
luxuriant  plants.  In  this  way  this  hammock,  and  all 
others  of  a  similar  nature  in  East  Florida,  owe  their 
origin  to  the  agencies  of  the  ocean,  the  wind  and  de- 
caying vegetation. 

March  18,  1899,. — Beneath  the  bark  of  a  fallen 
and  decaying  pine  I  found 
to-day  two  examples  of  that 
curious  little  toothless  frog, 
Engystoma  carolinense  Hoi- 
brook.  When  the  loose  bark 
was  pulled  away  they  re- 
mained squatted  close  to  the 
brown  wood,  which  they  re- 
sembled so  closely  that  had  it  not  been  for  the  pro- 
tuberances which  they  formed,  I  might  have  passed 


76  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

them  by  unnoticed.  The  body  of  this  frog  is  short 
and  oval,  the  total  length  not  exceeding  an  inch.  The 
head  is  small  and  triangular ;  the  snout  pointed,  and 
the  jaws  toothless.  Above,  the  body  is  dark,  grayish 
brown,  while  below  it  is  lighter,  but  thickly  mottled 
with  blackish  specks. 

Of  the  habits  of  this  frog  but  little  seems  to  be  re- 
corded. Holbrook  says :  "It  passes  most  of  its  days 
in  concealment  near  old  fences  or  under  the  bark  of 
fallen  trees,  emerging  only  toward  evening  and  after 
heavy  rains.  It  makes  a  feeble  chirp  at  night,  and  at 
times  when  captured ;  and  being  but  a  clumsy  swim- 
mer, if  thrown  into  the  water  it  repeats  this  chirp  fre- 
quently in  its  endeavors  to  escape."*  On  the  con- 
trary, Cope,  in  his  "Batrachia  of  North  America," 
says  that  "the  cry  is  loud  for  the  size  of  the  animal." 
He  reports  it  as  very  common  in  ditches  along  the 
streets  of  Houston  and  San  Antonio,  Texas,  in  Sep- 
tember, and  adds :  "They  are  extremely  shy  and  be- 
come silent  on  the  approach  of  human  footsteps.  As 
only  the  tip  of  their  nose  projects  above  the  water 
level,  they  disappear  beneath  it  without  leaving  a  rip- 
ple."f  I  afterward  took  it  on  two  different  occasions 
near  Ormond,  but  beneath  bark  or  rubbish  some  dis- 
tance from  water.  It  is  the  sole  representative  of  its 
family  in  the  United  States,  having  been  taken  as  far 
north  as  New  Madrid,  Missouri.  Eighteen  genera 

*  North  American  Herpetology,  1, 1836,  p.  84. 
tLoc.cit.,  1889,  386. 


THE  SIX- LINED  LIZARD.  77 

and  fifty-three  species  have  been  described  from  other 
countries,  chiefly  from  the  tropics. 

I  also  took  to-day  a  male  of  the  six-lined  lizard, 
Cnemidophorus  sex-lineaius  L.  I  had  seen  them  on 
several  previous  occasions,  but  their  movements  were 
so  rapid  that  I  had  been  unable  to  capture  one.  Its 
habits  here  are  the  same  as  among  the  sand  dunes  at 
the  foot  of  Lake  Michigan,  where  it  occurs  plenti- 
fully. Here,  as  there,  they  are  always  seen  in  sandy 
localities,  scampering  swiftly  from  one  clump  of 
bunch  grass  to  another ;  so  swiftly,  in  fact,  that  a 
great  deal  of  maneuvering  is  necessary  to  capture  one 
with  a  butterfly  net.  The  specimen  taken  to-day  is 
dusky  brown  in  color,  with  three  yellow  streaks  on 
each  side,  the  interspaces  being  jet  black.  The  throat 
is  silvery  white,  and  the  abdomen  a  deep,  shining 
blue.  I  have  never  seen  it  climb  trees,  as  does  the 
common  blue-tailed  lizard,  Eumeces  fasciatus  L., 
though  Holbrook  states  that  "it  will  take  to  trees 
when  pursued."  He  also  adds  that  "it  feeds  on  in- 
sects and  generally  seeks  its  food  toward  the  close  of 
the  day,  when  it  may  be  seen  in  corn  fields  far  from 
its  usual  retreats ;  and,  not  infrequently,  I  have  met 
male  and  female  in  company."* 

This  afternoon,  while  excavating  in  the  shell 
mound,  a  large  cabbage  palmetto,  which  had  been  un- 
dermined by  the  negroes  who  are  carting  away  shells, 
fell  into  the  excavation  and  missed  me  about  ten  feet. 


*  Loc.  cit.,  p.  (55. 


78  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

March  19, 1899. — Earning  in  the  forenoon.  Along 
the  river  bank,  in  front  of  the  house  where  I  room, 
are  several  bunches  of  hay,  which  is  composed  of  a 
mixture  of  stems  of  weeds  and  coarse  bunch  grass. 
It  has  lain  there  for  several  months.  I  turned  it  over 
between  showers,  and  found  several  specimens  of  the 
field  cricket,  Gryllus  pennsylvanicm  Burm.,  and  a 
male  of  a  long-winged  roach,  Ischnoptem  bolliana 
Sauss.,  neither  of  which  I  have  seen  here  before. 
From  beneath  some  near-by  rubbish,  along  the  sides 
of  a  rill  which  carries  the  waste  of  a  flowing  well 
to  the  river,  I  also  secured  several  examples  of  that 
flat,  discoidal  snail,  Polygyra  septemvolva  Say.  The 
whorls  are  seven  in  number,  compressed,  depressed, 
and  marked  with  conspicuous  lines  and  grooves 
above.  In  color  it  is  russet-horn,  and  the  greatest 
diameter  is  three-fifths  of  an  inch.  Its  range  is  con- 
fined to  the  Atlantic  coast  of  Georgia  and  Florida. 
I  afterwards  took  it  beneath  decaying  palmetto  logs 
and  rubbish  in  a  number  of  places  near  Ormond. 

Another  snail,  of  which  I  to-day  secured  a  single 
specimen,  beneath  the  rubbish  by  the  rill,  is  Polygyra 
pustula  Fer.,  a  reddish,  horn-colored  and  hirsute 
species,  whose  maximum  breadth  is  but  one-fifth  of 
an  inch.  It  is  chiefly  characterized  by  having  a  deep 
groove  within  the  umbilicus,  and  ranges  from 
Georgia  to  Texas. 

In  the  afternoon,  though  the  wind  was  blowing 
strongly,  I  once  again  visited  the  beach.  The  most 


A  WRECKED  SCHOONER.  79 

prominent  object  along  the  shore  was  the  hull  of  a 
deserted  ship  about  a  mile  below  Ormond,  which  was 
wrecked  on  December  5,  1896.  It  being  low  tide,  I 
easily  reached  it  and  climbed  to  its  deck.  It  had  been 
a  three-masted  schooner,  about  one  hundred  and 
twenty  feet  in  length.  One  mast  had  been  sawed  off, 
the  other  two  snapped  by  the  storm  which  drove  the 
vessel  stem  first  upon  this  coast.  Two  of  her  crew 
were  swept  overboard  and  drowned  before  she  struck, 
and  a  landsman  was  also  drowned  while  striving  to 
rescue  the  remainder  of  the  crew,  who  were  finally 
saved.  On  the  side  of  her  prow  is  the  name — Nathan 
F.  Cobb,  of  Rockland,  Maine.  Her  hull  lies  deep  in 
the  sands.  At  high  tide  the  ocean,  proud  of  his 
power,  breaks  over  her.  Vultures  and  fish  hawks  at 
times  rest  upon  the  stubs  of  her  broken  masts. 
Curiosity-seekers  like  myself  by  hundreds  come  and 
go.  There  she  will  probably  lie  for  years  to  come, 
the  only  wreck  of  any  importance  along  this  coast 
for  50  miles. 

March  20,  1899. — The  night  has  been  cool,  but  the 
sun  rises  bright  and  glorious  from  the  bed  of  the 
ocean.  There  is  but  here  and  there  a  dimple  on  the 
surface  of  the  river.  Its  waters  are  flowing  placidly 
onward  to  the  sea.  The  waters  of  a  man's  life  are  his 
days.  Like  those  of  a  river,  a  lake  or  the  sea,  they 
are  at  one  time  calm,  placid  and  slow  moving.  At  an- 
other, they  are  tossed  into  foam,  into  high  waves,  and 


80  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

are  driven  on  by  adverse  winds  in  rapid,  tumultuous 
course. 

The  large  glossy  evergreen  leaves  of  the  magnolia, 
M.  grandiflora  L.,  are  the  most  handsome  foliage  of 
the  woods  hereabouts.  Large  numbers  of  them  have 
recently  been  used  in  decorating  the  office  and  hall- 
ways of  the  great  hotel  across  the  river. 

One  seeks  the  sunny  places  in  the  woods  and  fields 
at  noon  to-day,  as  the  mercury  is  only  at  50°  F. 
About  75°  is  the  most  pleasant  in  this  latitude. 
Above  that  is  depressing. 

The  dragonflies  which  occur  here  differ  much  in 
habit  from  those  in  the  north.  There  they  are  sel- 
dom seen  except  about  marshes  and  borders  of 
streams  and  ponds.  Here  they  seem  to  seek  the 
higher,  dryer,  woodland  paths.  This  morning  I  have 
seen  hundreds  of  the  medium-sized,  brown-winged 
form,  Tramea  Carolina  L.,  flitting  hither  and  thither 
in  active  flight.  Many  others  of  the  same  species  are 
resting 'on  the  twigs  of  oaks  and  other  trees,  their 
bodies  standing  out  at  right  angles  to  the  support  to 
which  they  cling.  This  species  occurs  most  abun- 
dantly along  the  sea  coast,  but  ranges  inland  as  far 
as  the  Great  Lakes. 

I  to-day  saw  the  first  colony  of  the  young  of  that 
giant  lubberly  grasshopper  Dictyophorus  reticulatus 
Thunb.  There  were  about  seventy  of  them  on  the 
leaves  and  stems  of  a  single  weed  in  the  old  orange 
orchard.  I  also  secured  a  magnificent  specimen  of 


AT  ORMOND  BY  THE  SEA.  81 

£? 

that  great  black  and  yellow  butterfly,  the  tiger  swal- 
low-tail, Papilio  turnus  L.  Many  have  been  seen, 
but  the  freshly  moulted  ones  fly  Ijigh,  those  next  the 


Fig.  23— Tiger  Swallow-tail. 

(Two-fifths  natural  lize.) 

ground  within  reach  of  the  net  being  almost  always 
worn  and  be-draggled.  As  yet  the  dimorphic  form 
glaucus  has  not  been  seen,  though  the  books  say  it 
is  "southern  in  its  range."  But  the  books  are  not  al- 
ways right.  Too  often  are  they  written  by  closet 
naturalists,  who  depend  upon  others  to  gather  their 
specimens  and  first-hand  knowledge. 

March  21,  1899. — For  two  nights  I  have  slept  but 
little.  The  old  nervous  feeling  is  upon  me  with  full 
force.  This  morning  I  fish  for  an  hour  from  the 
bridge,  where  many  sea  trout,  Cynoscwn  nebulosus 
Cuv.  &  Vsil.j  and  sailors'  choice,  Lagodon  rhoniboides 
L.,  have  recently  been  token.  I,  however,  get  "nary 
a  nibble." 


6 


82 


A  NATURE  WOOING. 


I  afterwards  spend  some  time  searching  beneath 
the  loose  bark  of  old  pine  logs  in  the  woods,  north- 
west of  town,  but  find  little  other  than  what  I  have 
taken.  Beneath  this  bark  is  the  favorite  abiding 
place  of  the  blue-tailed  skink,  Eumeces  fasciatus  L. 
Here,  roaches,  ants,  and  other  lizard  delicacies  are 
common.  Here  is  protection  from  frost  and  from 
birds  of  prey.  At  least  a  dozen  were  found  beneath 
this  pine  bark  shelter  during  my  morning's  search. 
Here,  too,  abides  the  pretty  little  ring-necked  snake, 
Diadophis  punctatus  L.  A  specimen  taken  this  morn- 


Fig.  24-Ring-necked  Snake. 

ing  differs  from  those  of  the  north  in  having  the  ring 
about  the  neck  salmon  red,  instead  of  creamy  white. 
It  is  but  eight  inches  in  length ;  above,  blue-black  in 
color ;  below,  bright  orange,  with  two  lateral  rows  of 
blackish  blotches,  and  a  median  row  of  similar  spots 
between  the  head  and  tail. 

In  the  afternoon  I  take  my  way  to  a  grassy  slope 
beyond  a  large,  vacant  house.     Here  I  bask,  like  a 


THE  S  UN—  THE  R  VLER.  83 

lizard,  for  two  hours  or  more,  in  the  sun's  light  and 
heat.  Do  I  store  up  any  energy  ?  I  know  not,  but  it 
is  pleasant  to  be  able,  on  a  March  day,  to  stretch 
myself  upon  this  sloping  grassy  spot  and  feel  the 
warm  rays  beat  upon  my  cheek. 

I  bow  my  head  in  reverence  before  thee,  O  Sun, 
my  master !  Thou  art  King  and  Lord  of  all !  From 
thy  face  beams  a  radiant  light  which  quickens  into 
new  life  all  forms  of  organic  beings.  The  sap  in  bud, 
in  herb,  in  tree,  obedient  to  thy  will,  becomes  more 
liquid,  mounts  faster,  reaches  the  farthermost  cells, 
and  shortly  builds  new  ones  to  receive  thy  precious 
rays.  The  blood  in  animals  becomes  possessed  with 
new  energy,  and  bounds  impulsively  through  the 
veins.  Thou  strengthenest  the  weak,  thou  curbest 
the  strong.  Thou  art  the  source  of  all  energy,  the 
fountain  of  all  life.  Why,  then,  should  not  I,  this 
afternoon,  receive  new  powers  from  thy  effulgent 
rays? 

March  22,  1899. — The  morning  dawns  clear  and 
warm.  By  ten  o'clock  the  temperature  is  82°,  and 
the  blue  of  the  sky  intense  and  dazzling. 

An  old  man  cleaned  the  yard  for  Mrs.  B.  this  morn- 
ing, who  came  to  Florida  a  few  years  ago  with  $2, 200, 
his  life  savings.  He  invested  $1,000  of  it  in  three 
acres  of  land  near  Orinoiid,  one  of  which  was  already 
set  out  to  orange  trees.  In  clearing  and  planting  the 
other  two  acres  he  spent  $500  more.  The  second 
year  after,  the  frost  killed  all  his  trees.  He  is  thus 


84  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

left  with  only  $700,  and  works  at  odd  jobs  for  a  liv- 
ing. Moral,  beware  of  orange  groves  in  north  Flor- 
ida. The  climate  of  this  part  of  the  State  is  delight- 
ful, but  it  is  not  coupled  with  an  abundance  of  good 
soil.  It  is  a  fine  place  to  live  or  to  winter  if  a  person 
has  money  which  he  has  made  somewhere  else.  Most 
of  those  who  make  a  living  here  get  it  by  catering  in 
some  manner  to  the  wants  of  invalids  or  tourists  from 
the  north,  not  by  raising  fruit,  crops,  or  by  manufac- 
turing. 

In  the  old  orange  orchard  I  found  the  male  of  the 
parti-colored  sand  locust,  Scirtettica  picta  Scudd., 
more  abundant  than  at  any  time  before.  He  has  the 
most  prolonged  stridulation  of  any  locust  known  to 
me.  He  zig-zags  in  his  flight  almost  at  right  angles, 
sometimes  staying  in  the  air  for  half  a  minute,  flying 
all  about  an  acre  or  more,  and  finally  alighting  on 
the  sand  within  a  yard  of  where  he  arose.  All  the 
time  he  is  up  he  sounds  his  musical  organ  with  every 
stroke  of  his  wings,  making  a  loud  z-rr-zrr-zrr,  like 
the  subdued  note  of  the  harvest  fly,  Cicada  pruinosa 
L.,  or  the  prolonged  and  angry  buzz  of  a  big  bumble 
bee.  This  locust  has  been  recorded  only  from 
Georgia  and  Florida,  though  it  will  doubtless  be 
found  farther  north  in  sandy  fields  close  to  the  coast. 

A  few  days  ago  a  darkey  brought  to  the  house 
while  I  was  away  a  mole  cricket,  Gryllotalpa  borealis 
Burm.  This  morning  I  met  him  for  the  first  time 
since,  and  told  him  what  it  was  and  something  of  its 


THE  SPREADING  VIPER. 


85 


habits.    He  said  he  has  seen  hundreds  of  them  when 
plowing  along  the  edges  of  the  hammocks.    This  dar- 
key and  most  of  his  race  hereabouts  often  greet  me, 
whatever  the  time  of  day,  with  the 
alliterative   phrase,    "Mawnin',   mis- 
ter.'7 

In  the  afternoon  I  went  with  a 
party  to  the  shell  mound.     On  the 
way    we    happened    upon    a    small 
spreading    viper,    Heterodon    platy- 
rhinus  Lat,  in  the  sandy  roadway. 
It   was   very   brightly   colored    and 
about  fourteen  inches  in  length.     On 
first  seeing  us  it  hissed  and  spread 
itself    out    very   flat,    but    soon    at- 
tempted to   escape.      When  headed 
off,  it  turned  over  on  its  back  and 
went     through     some     remarkable 
squirming    vibrations,    twisting    and    writhing    into 
every  conceivable  form,  as  though  suffering  from  a 
most  severe  case  of  snake  epilepsy.     Finally,  with 
mouth  wide  open,  it  became  perfectly  quiet,  feigning 
death  in  every  particular  except  when  turned  right 
side   up,   when  it  would  immediately  squirm  over 
again.     We  left  it  apparently  lifeless,  but  on  return- 
ing, a  half  hour  later,  it  was  gone.     This  curious 
habit  of  feigning  death  when  teased  is  seemingly  pe- 
culiar to  the  spreading  viper,  and  is  practiced  by  both 
young  and  old.*     This  snake  is  said  to  be  common 

*See  Jour.  Cincin.  Soc.  Nat.  Hist.,  1891,  p.  33. 


r.  25— Mole 
Cricket. 

(Natural  rize.) 


86  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

about  Ormond,  though  the  one  above  mentioned  was 
the  only  one  I  saw.  It  is  thought  by  most  persons 
that  it  is  very  poisonous  and  can  even  spit  venom. 
It  is,  however,  one  of  the  most  harmless  of  snakes, 
possessing  no  sign  of  a  poison  fang. 

March  23,  1899. — The  forenoon  is  hot  and  sultry. 
I  overturned  once  more  the  hay  on  the  river  bank, 
and  was  rewarded  with  a  specimen  of  a  roach,  Pyc- 
noscelus  surinamensis  L.,  which  I  have  not  before 
found.  It  is  of  medium  size,  three-quarters  of  an  inch 
in  length  by  two-fifths  of  an  inch  in  breadth.  The 
wings  are  light  smoky  brown,  slightly  longer  than 
the  abdomen,  while  the  head  and  pronotum  are  dark 
shining  brown,  the  latter  narrowly  margined  in  front 
with  yellow.  It  is  said  to  be  abundant  in  the  tropics 
of  both  hemispheres ;  and  in  the  United  States  occurs 
in  the  Gulf  and  South  Atlantic  states. 

Among  plants  now  in  blossom  hereabouts,  I  notice 
an  old  northern  friend,  the  Carolina  cranesbill,  Ger- 
anium carolinianum  L.  It  is  common  in  waste  places 
along  the  roadways  and  in  old  fields,  as  is  also  that 
handsome,  hairy,  purple  phlox,  Phlox  amcena  L. 
The  latter  was  noticed  on  March  5th,  and  is  said  to 
bloom  all  winter  when  the  season  is  favorable.  I 
first  became  acquainted  with  it  a  dozen  years  ago  in 
Monroe  County,  Indiana,  where  it  reaches  its  north- 
ern limit. 

The  big  green  dragonfly,  with  spotted  abdomen, 
^Eschna  ingens  Ramb.,  is  out  to-day  by  thousands. 


JIGGERS  OR  "RED-BUQS: 


87 


Its  flight  is  so  swift  that  one  can  scarcely  follow  it 
with  the  eye.  The  only  way  I  can  catch  them  is  by 
striking  wildly  at  them  with  the  net  as  they  come 
along.  It  is  like  striking  at  a  base  ball  pitched  with 
exceeding  swiftness.  I  can  always  tell  when  I  have 
made  a  capture  by  the  thud  with  which  it  hits  the 
bottom  of  the  net. 

The  "red-bug"  has  shown  its  colors,  or,  rather,  its 
bites.  My  ankles  are  sore  with  the  eruptions  due  to 
their  burrowing.  From  what  I  can  see  of  them  they 
are  only  the  northern  jigger,  Leptus  irritans  Riley. 

This  is  a  minute  reddish  insect,  belonging  to  the 
group  of  mites.  In  the  larval  form,  the  one  in  which 


Fig.  26— Jiggers.     (Two  species.) 

Leptvt  irritans  on  the  right. 
(After  Riley.) 


it  occurs  as  a  pest,  it  has  six  legs  instead  of  eight, 
and  a  pair  of  very  large  maxillae,  or  arms.  Dr.  Riley 
has  given  a  popular  account  of  this  pest,  as  follows : 
"Woe  betide  the  person  who,  after  bathing  in  some 


88  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

stream,  is  lured  to  a  green  dressing  spot  of  weeds  or 
grass !  He  may,  for  the  time,  consider  himself  fortu- 
nate in  getting  rid  of  mud  and  dirt,  but  he  will  after- 
wards find  to  his  sorrow  that  he  exchanged  them  for 
something  far  more  tenacious  in  these  microscopic 
harvest  mites.  If  he  has  obtained  a  good  supply  of 
them,  he  will  in  a  few  hours  begin  to  suffer  from  se- 
vere itching,  and  for  the  next  two  or  three  days  will 
be  likely  to  scratch  until  his  limbs  are  sore. 

"With  the  strong  mandibles  and  the  elbowed  max- 
illae, which  act  like  arms,  this  mite  is  able  to  bury  it- 
self completely  in  the  flesh,  thereby  causing  a  red 
swelling,  with  a  pale  pustulous  center,  containing 
watery  matter.  If,  in  scratching,  he  is  fortunate 
enough  to  remove  the  mite  before  it  enters,  the  part 
soon  heals.  But  otherwise  the  irritation  lasts  for  two, 
three,  or  four  days,  the  pustulous  center  reappearing 
as  often  as  it  is  broken. 

"The  animal  itself,  on  account  of  its  minute  size, 
is  seldom  seen,  and  the  uninitiated,  when  first 
troubled  with  it,  are  often  alarmed  at  the  symptoms, 
and  at  a  loss  to  account  for  them.  Fortunately  these 
little  plagues  never  attach  themselves  to  persons  in 
such  immense  numbers  as  do  sometimes  young  or  so- 
called  'seed'  ticks;  but  I  have  known  cases  where, 
from  the  irritation  and  consequent  scratching,  the 
flesh  had  the  appearance  of  being  covered  with 
ulcers ;  and  in  some  localities,  where  these  pests  most 
abound,  sulphur  is  often  sprinkled  during  'jigger' 


REMEDIES  FOR  JIGGER  BITES.  89 

season  in  the  boots  or  shoes  as  a  protection.  Sulphur 
ointment  is  also  a  good  remedy  against  the  effects  of 
these  mites,  though  when  that  can  not  be  obtained, 
saleratus  water  and  salt  water  will  partially  allay  the 
irritation. 

"Their  normal  food,  apparently,  consists  of  the 
juices  of  plants,  and  the  love  of  blood  proves  ruinous 
to  those  individuals  who  get  a  chance  to  indulge  it. 
For,  unlike  the  true  jigger,  the  female  of  which  de- 
posits eggs  in  the  wound  she  makes,  these  harvest 
mites  have  no  object  of  the  kind,  and  when  not  killed 
by  the  hands  of  those  they  torment,  they  soon  die  vic- 
tims to  their  sanguinary  appetite."* 

An  excellent  remedy  for  the  bite  of  these  "red- 
bugs"  is  the  bathing  of  the  affected  parts  in  a  very  di- 
lute solution  of  .carbolic  acid — one  part  of  acid  to 
fifty  parts  of  water.  Diluted  alcohol  can  also  be  used 
to  advantage. 

In  making  a  side  excursion  this  morning,  I  got  into 
a  tangled  mass  of  young  pines,  saw  palmettos  and 
scrubby  undergrowth,  which  was  the  worst  I  ever  en- 
countered. 'Twas  a  veritable  semi-tropical  jungle. 
Long  grape  vines,  smilax  of  various  kinds  and  other 
thorn-bearing  upright  shrubs  and  twining  vines 
everywhere  impeded  my  progress.  For  half  an  hour 
I  tried  to  force  my  way  out  before  I  was  successful. 
I  could  not  see  twenty  feet  ahead  for  most  of  the 


•-Amer.  Naturalist,  VII,  1873,  p.  18. 


90 


A  NATURE  WOOING. 


time.     At  last  I  came  out,  perspiring  and  well-nigh 
exhausted,  into  an  old  Spanish  roadway. 

Those  little  wood-brown  butterflies,  the  Neonym- 
phas,  are  very  common  to-day.  N.  sosybius  Fab.  has 
already  been  mentioned.  N.  eurytus  Fab.,  somewhat 
larger,  and  with  two  eye  spots  circled  with  yellow, 

on  both  the  upper  and 
lower  surfaces  of  each 
wing,  is  more  com- 
mon. N.  gemma  Hub. 
also  occurs,  but  spar- 
ingly. The  habits  of 
all  are  the  same.  They 
are  frail  creatures  of 
the  earth  —  ever-mov- 
ing— ever-flitting  close 
to  the  ground  in  search  of  something,  I  know  not 
what.  Their  brown  wings  shield  them  from  the 
sight  of  bird  and  other  enemy.  Along  woodland 
paths,  in  sunny  lanes,  for  two  weeks  and  more  they 
have  been  the  prevailing  form  of  insect  life.  Rest, 
they  seem  to  know  not.  Perchance  for  an  instant  one 
will  pause  with  folded  wing,  and  bask  in  the  sun- 
shine on  some  dry  leaf;  then  up  and  away  it  goes, 
ever  seeking,  seeking,  seeking  o'er  the  face  of  Mother 
Earth.  They  are  not  gifted  with  living  motion. 
They  are  but  the  shadows  of  dead  leaves,  driven  on- 
ward before  the  breeze.  So  thinks,  at  times,  the  nat- 
uralist, as  he,  too,  basks  in  the  sunlight  and  sees  their 
flitting  forms  go  by. 


Fig.  27— Wood  Nymph  Butterfly. 

tfeonympha  eurytu*  Fab. 


THE  PRAIRIE   WARBLER.  91 

Just  after  noon  there  was  a  gentle  rain,  with  occa- 
sional thunder,  for  an  hour  and  a  half.  Then  a  calm. 
~Not  a  ripple  upon  the  surface  of  the  water,  and  the 
air  cooler  by  ten  degrees.  All  was  fresh,  peaceful 
and  inviting  in  the  fields.  A  pleasing  woodsy  odor 
mingled  with  that  of  the  pines.  The  song  of  a  car- 
dinal, the  cheery  note  of  a  wren,  and  the  lisping  call 
of  two  or  three  warblers  alone  broke  the  silence. 

I  watch  for  a  time  a  warbler  in  a  nearby  scrub  oak, 
flitting  from  branch  to  branch,  and  peering  furtively 


Fig.  28— Prairie  Warbler. 

on  every  side.  Its  back  is  olive,  with  several  chestnut 
bars  in  the  center.  The  under  parts  and  throat  are 
bright  yellow.  Black  bars  border  the  sides  of  head 
and  throat.  Is  it  the  prairie  warbler,  Dendroica  dis- 
color Yiellot,  northward  bound  ?  If  so,  I  would  fain 
send  by  him  a  message  to  the  loved  ones  at  home. 

March  21+,  1899. — To-day  I  accompanied  a  party  of 
excursionists  on  a  gasoline  launch  up  the  Tomoka,  or, 


92 


A  NATURE  WOOING. 


in  the  vernacular  of  the  darkey,  the  "Mokey."  We 
went  as  far  as  Misener's  Landing,  where  the  hotel 
people  have  erected  a  rude  log  cabin  for  the  shelter 
and  accommodation  of  such  of  their  guests  as  choose 
to  make  the  trip. 

We  first  ascended  the  Halifax  in  the  face  of  a 
strong,  north  head  wind,  for  six  miles,  when  we  ?ame 
to  the  broad  mouth  of  the  Tomoka,  which  enters 
from  the  west.  On  the  way  up  the  Halifax  we  saw 
a  number  of  cormorants,  Phalacrocorax  dilophus 
Swainson,  perched  on  the  poles  or  posts  erected  along 
the  stream  as  channel  guides  for  the  pilot.  They 

would  sit  motion- 
less, with  necks  far 
outstretched  until 
the  boat  was  almost 
.opposite,  then  move 
onward  close  to  the 
water,  in  long,  lum- 
bering flight,  to  a 
distant  perch.  Sev- 
eral flocks  of  "blue- 
bills,"  or  scaup 

ducks,  Aythya  marila  L.,  were  also  flushed^  their 
white  sides  and  backs  as  they  flew  disclosing  their 
identity. 

The  mouth  of  the  Tomoka  is  a  third  of  a  mile  in 
width  and  very  shallow,  but  after  fairly  entering  the 
stream  it  narrows  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards  or 


Fig.  29— Scaup  Duck. 


UP  THE  TOMOKA.  93 

less,  and  the  water  becomes  very  dark,  almost  black, 
and  deep.  Rounding  a  bend  we  saw  lying  on  the 
bank  our  first  live  alligator  on  his  native  heath.  He 
was  ten  feet  or  more  in  length,  and  an  ugly  looking 
varmint  from  any  point  of  view.  Several  kodak 
snap-shots  were  obtained  of  him  as  the  boat  went  by 
a  half-dozen  rods  from  where  he  lay  blinking  in  the 
sun.  We  had  not  fairly  gotten  past  when,  with  a 
clumsy  plunge,  he  went  headlong  into  the  river  and 
disappeared  beneath^  its  turbid  waters.  A  little 
farther  on  the  eyes  and  tip  of  nose  of  another  "gator" 
were  seen  close  to  the  shore  and  just  above  the  level 
of  the  water.  They  sunk  slowly  and  silently  as  we 
drew  near.  But  two  others  were  noted  during  the 
day,  the  air  being  too  cool  to  suit  their  sunning  pro- 
clivities. 

A  number  of  "cooters,"  or  large  greenish  turtles, 
Pseudemys  concinna  LeConte,  were  observed,  always 
solitary,  resting  on  half  submerged  logs  in  secluded 
nooks  along  the  shore. 

The  Tomoka  makes  many  crooks  and  turns,  often 
abriipt.  Like  most  other  streams,  one  bank  is  usually 
the  lower,  being  the  border  of  a  flat  marshy  tract  cov- 
ered with  reeds  and  coarse  grass;  and  with  willows, 
cypress  and  cabbage  palmettos  close  to  the  water's 
edge.  The  other  bank  is  six  to  ten  feet  higher,  the 
surface  sandy,  and  covered  with  pine  and  saw  palmet- 
tos in  abundance. 


94  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

Numerous  ospreys  or  fish,  hawks,  Pandion  Jialicetus 
L.,  were  seen  both  on  the  going  and  returning  trips. 
One  of  them  had  a  large  fish  in  its  talons,  so  held  that 
the  head  of  the  fish  was  toward  the  head  of  the  bird, 
so  as  to  retard  the  latter  as  little  as  possible  in  its 
flight.  It  flew  before  us  for  a  mile  or  more,  alighting 
at  intervals  of  a  few  hundred  yards  on  some  dead 


Fig.  30— Osprey  or  Fish  Hawk. 

limb  of  cypress  or  oak;  then,  on  our  near  approach, 
up  and  away,  always  clinging  tightly  to  its  prey. 

Among  the  most  striking  objects  along  the  river 
are  .the  nests  of  these  ospreys — great  circular  masses 
of  mosses  and  twigs — placed  far  out  on  the  project- 
ing limb  of  some  dead  snag,  safe  from  the  clutches  of 
any  egg-collecting  urchin,  or  other  animal  with 
oological  propensities.  The  sticks  of  the  nest  alone 
form  a  large  mass,  serving  as  a  foundation ;  but  when 
the  nest  is  finished  are  so  completely  covered  with  the 


AN  OSPEEY'S  NEST.  95 

gray  Spanish  moss  as  to  be  almost  out  of  sight.  It  is 
said  that  the  birds  collect  the  materials  of  which  their 
nests  are  made  from  distant  places,  when  they  might 
easily  secure  them  within  a  few  rods  of  the  tree  on 
which  they  are  placed.  One  of  the  nests  was  as  large 
as  a  bushel  basket,  and  is  said  to  have  been  occupied 
each  season  for  fifteen  years,  or  since  the  Tomoka 
was  first  visited  by  the  tourists,  and  for  how  much 
longer  man  knoweth  not.  It  is  lined  each  spring  with 
new  moss,  and  otherwise  put  in  repair.  To-day  the 
head  of  the  sitting  bird  was  just  visible  above  its  rim. 
The  season  of  incubating  was  evidently  in  its  height 
as  one  of  the  birds  was  either  sitting  on  each  nest 
noted,  or  was  standing  on  its  edge,  while  the  other 
was  usually  perched  on  a  nearby  tree. 

Going  up  the  stream  until  fallen  trees  formed  a 
barrier  against  further  progress  we  turned  the  bow 
towards  home  and  retraced  our  way  to  Misener's 
Landing  and  the  cabin.  Here  a  high  piece  of  sandy 
ground,  free  from  underbrush — a  pine-barren,  in  fact 
— stretches  back  from  the  river,  far  as  eye  can  reach. 
It  is  covered  with  a  tall  species  of  wire  grass,  Aristida 
stricta  Michx.,  now  brown  and  sere ;  while  numerous 
examples  of  the  long-leaved  pine,  Pinus  palustris 
Mill.,  are  scattered  over  its  expanse.  It  was  the  first 
open  pine  woods  I  had  had  opportunity  to  visit,  and 
while  the  others  of  the  party  amused  themselves  about 
the  cabin,  I  rambled  afar,  seeking  what  I  might  find, 
in  this  southern  woodland  pasture. 


96 


A  NATURE  WOOING. 


It  seems  that  at  this  season  the  name  of  "barren" 
applies  as  well  to  the  animal  as  to  the  vegetable  forms 
of  life,  for  the  former  were  few  and  far  between. 
Four  species  of  beetles  taken  from  beneath  chunks 
and  fallen  limbs  alone  rewarded  me  for  the  two  hours' 
search.  The  largest  was  Pasimachus  marginatus 
Fab.,  an  oblong  black  carabid  an 
inch  in  length,  of  which  two 
specimens  were  taken.  An- 
other and  rarer  species  was 
Helluomorpha  ferruginea  Lee.,  a 
uniform  brown  form  which  is 
not  recorded  in  any  Florida  list. 
The  others  are  Tenebrioides  semi- 
cylindrica  Horn,  a  cylindrical, 
elongate  black  species  which  is 

/^       also    rare,    and   Plianeus  igneus 
MacL.,  a  "tumble  buar"  closely 

Fig.  31.  ,,.     ,  , 

jtofmaehuMryiuto.Fab.      allied  to  our  common  northern 

P.  carnifex. 

Returning  to  the  cabin,  I  partook  of  a  "fish  chow- 
der," of  which  one  small  bass  formed  the  fishy  flavor ; 
since  the  finny  tribe  had  refused  to  sacrifice  them- 
selves for  our  hungry  stomachs.  Nevertheless,  other 
viands  were  plentiful,  and  after  an  hour  at  the  festal 
board,  we  started  homeward. 

On  the  way  down  stream  a  great  blue  heron,  Ardea 
herodias  L.,  seemingly  of  lighter  hue  than  the  same 
species  in  the  north,  was  flushed  a  number  of  times. 
He  would  arise  with  a  loud  flapping  of  wings  from 


A  GREAT  BLUE  HERON.  97 

some  cove  or  sheltered  position  where,  for  a  minute 
or  two,  he  had  been  hidden  from  view,  and,  extending 
his  long  legs  straight  out  behind  him  to  serve  as  a  rud- 
der in  lieu  of  his  short  tail,  he  would  flap  his  way 
onward  for  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards  or  more, 
then  drop  down  behind  a  bunch  of  reeds.  There  he 
would  stand  motionless,  with  outstretched  neck, 
watching  and  waiting  for  our  approach,  when  again 
he  would  be  up  and  away.  The  small  green  heron, 
Ardca  virescens  L.,  and  the  kingfisher,  Ceryle  alcyon 
L.,  were  also  seen  at  intervals  along  our  way.  Just 
before  reaching  the  Halifax  the  boat,  though  draw- 
ing but  twenty-six  inches,  grounded  in  the  shallow 
water,  and  had  to  be  worked  off  by  shifting  the  posi- 
tion of  the  passengers  and  then  using  a  pole.  If 
necessary,  we  could  have  easily  waded  to  the  shore. 

The  Tomoka  is  a  characteristic  representative  of 
the  smaller  Floridian  streams;  with  its  deep,  dark, 
slowly  flowing  water;  palmettos,  pines  and  cypresses 
festooned  with  hanging  moss,  leaning  far  out  over  its 
depths ;  shining  mullet  leaping  at  intervals  above  its 
surface;  alligators  and  turtles  basking  on  its  banks  or 
on  half  submerged  logs ;  and  negroes  humming  with 
peculiar  nasal  twang  their  plaintive  melodies,  while 
rowing  and  fishing  in  its  waters. 

March  25,  1899. — Once  more,  O  my  pine  tree,  lift- 
ing thy  head  so  proudly  above  thy  surroundings— 
once  more  I  come  to  thee,  rest  my  head,  weary  with 
pain,  against  thy  friendly  trunk  and  give  way  to  rev- 


98  A  NATURE  WOOING. 


ery !  I  would  not  give  much  for  a  man  who  can  look 
upon  the  first  wild  flowers  of  spring  and  not  feel  a 
love,  a  boundless  love,  of  Nature  in  his  soul.  For 
to  know  God,  the  true  God,  the  one  universal  and 
all,  one  must  know  Nature  in  the  true  sense.  But 
few,  if  any,  men  have  ever  known  her  thus,  for  to  do 
so  is  to  know  the  relation  existing  between  matter 
and  force,  between  atom  and  molecule,  between  ele- 
ment and  compound,  between  cell  and  tissue,  between 
organ  and  system,  between  plant  and  animal,  between 
each  one  of  nature's  objects  and  all  the  rest.  It  is  to 
grasp,  as  it  were,  the  universe  in  one  grand  compre- 
hension— to  stand  on  an  eminence  a  thousand  times 
higher  than  any  on  earth  and  see  all  objects  in  one 
grand  vista  before  you ;  and  at  the  same  time  feel  and 
understand  the  workings  of  the  great  natural  forces 
about  you.  Then,  and  then  only,  can  one  see  and 
know  his  relation  to  all — f eel  that  he  is  a  part  of  the 
universal  whole — a  parcel  of  the  universe — bound  to 
it  and  kin  to  all  which  it  comprises.  For  the  Universe 
is  God,  and  God  is  the  Universe. 

I  pull  the  bark  from  a  fallen  pine,  which  lies  half 
buried  in  the  meld,  and  find  the  following  inhabitants 
dwelling  beneath  its  shelter :  One  rather  large,  blue- 
tailed  lizard ;  two  toothless  frogs,  Engystoma  caro- 
tin ense  Holb. ;  several  specimens  of  a  carabid  beetle, 
Anisodactylus  terminatus  Say;  a  number  of  beetle 
larvae;  several  species  of  ants;  a  large  cockroach, 
Eurycotcb  ingens  Scudd. ;  numerous  young  of  another 


MYRIAPODS. 


99 


roach ;  a  half  dozen  earwigs,  Labia  burgessi  Scudd. ; 
a  colony  of  "white  ants;"  two  centipedes,  Scolopen- 
dra  morsitans  L. ;  two  large  millipedes,  Spirobolus 
spinigerus  Wood,  and  several  smaller  myriapods, 
members  of  the  genus  Lifhdbius.  It  was  surely  a 
"happy  family,"  living  seemingly  in  peace  and  unity 
beneath  the  bark  of  the  old  pine  log. 

The  true  myriapods  are  always  to  me  a  group  of 
more  than  passing  interest ;  since  they  are  the  typical 
representatives  of  that  great  branch  of 
Arthropods,  which  comprises  all  insects 
and  crustaceans.     Active  are  they,  and 
when    the    protective    shelter    of    bark, 
chunk    or    chip    is    raised    from    above 
them,   away  they  scamper,  seeking  an- 
other hiding  place  beneath  some  leaf  or 
lump    of    mold.      Handsome,    too,    are 
some  of  them,  especially  the  long,  slen- 
der Scolopendrid,  with  its  clear  bluish- 
green  body.     Their  food,  in  the  main, 
the  juices  of  decaying  vegetation,  their 
lives  are  spent  in  and  about  these  old 
logs  in  the  midst  of  plenty.     Perchance, 
at  times,  a  shrew,  salamander  or  carniv- 
orous beetle  covets  the  protoplasm  which 
they  have  stored,  and  makes  of  them  a  meal;  but, 
otherwise,  methinks,  the  moments  pass  quietly,  un- 
noted and  unsung,  until  at  last  they  yield  back  to 
Mother  Earth  the  dust  which  is  her  own. 


Fig.  32. 
A  Myriapod. 


100 


A  NATURE  WOOING. 


Today  I  take  for  the  first  time  a  specimen  of  that 
little  semi-tropical  butterfly,  the  "tailed  skipper,"  Eu- 
damus  proteus  L.  It  expands  about  two  inches;  is 
dark  brown  in  color,  with  four  whitish  spots  on  the 
fore  wing,  while  the  hind  wings  are  without  spots  and 
are  produced  into  tails  about  half  an  inch  in  length. 
It  ranges  as  far  north  as  New  York  City,  and  south- 
westward  at  least  to  the  lower  part  of  Old  Mexico, 
where  I  have  taken  it  in  numbers. 

The  wood  ticks,  Dermacentor  americanus  L.,  are 
becoming  common.  They  are  often  called  "dog- 
ticks,"  since  dogs  are  their  most  common  host.  The 
females,  when  they  attach  themselves  to  the  skin  of 
man  or  beast,  and  are  allowed  to  remain,  become 

gorged  with  blood  un- 
til they  are  very  much 
swollen,  and  are  some- 
times a  full  half  inch 
in  length.  The  males 
are  quite  handsome,  as 
handsome  goes  among 
such  forms,  being  vel- 
vety brown  and  having 
the  body  above  and  the 
legs  marked  with  sil- 
very lines  and  blotches. 

They  do  not  enlarge  as  do  the  females  when  gorged 
with  blood,  though,  if  removed  and  the  head  left  in 
the  flesh,  a  bad  running  sore  is  apt  to  result.  The 


Fig.  33— Wood  Tick. 

(Male;  much  enlarged.) 


THE  GROUND  LIZARD.  101 

young,  called  "seed  ticks/'  are  in  these  southern 
woods  very  plentiful  and  irritating,  climbing  on  to 
the  leaves  and  branches,  from  whence  they  are 
brushed  on  to  one's  clothing. 

In  passing  through  these  upland  pine  woods  and 
hammocks,  one  often  notes  a  small  brown  tail  wig- 
gling and  just  disappearing  beneath  a  bunch  of  dead 
leaves  or  a  fallen  giant  leaf  of  the  cabbage  palmetto. 
Investigation  will  show  the  tail  to  belong  to  the 
ground  lizard,  Oligosoma  laterale  Say.  Above,  the 
body  is  chestnut  brown ;  below,  silvery  white  to  base 
of  tail,  where  the  white  merges  into  blue.  A  band 
of  black  begins  at  the  snout  and  runs  back  along  the 
side  to  the  middle  of  tail.  The  total  length  is  usually 
less  than  five  inches. 

The  ground  lizard  is  our  smallest  saurian.  When 
undisturbed,  it  is  a  slow  moving,  tail-wagging,  wrig- 
gling-onward  reptile,  but  when  frightened,  it  moves 


Fig.  34-Ground  Lizard. 

with  much  celerity  and  quickly  finds  a  shelter.    Hoi- 
brook  has  well  described  its  habits  as  follows :     "The 


102  A  MATURE  WOOING. 

ground  lizard  may  be  seen  by  thousands  in  the  thick 
forests  of  the  southern  states.  They  emerge  from 
their  retreats  after  sunset,  in  search  of  small  insects 
and  worms,  on  which  they  live;  yet  their  motions  are 
so  quick  and  they  disappear  so  rapidly,  that  they 
might  at  first  be  easily  mistaken  for  crickets  or  other 
insects.  Though  so  numerous,  it  is  difficult  to  secure 
them  alive ;  for  when  approached  they  conceal  them- 
selves with  astonishing  quickness  under  the  roots  of 
the  old  and  decaying  trees,  or  beneath  fallen  leaves, 
or  other  vegetable  substances.  This  decaying  vege- 
table matter  sometimes  forms  a  stratum  several  inches 
thick,  containing  numerous  holes  and  crevices,  to 
which  they  can  easily  retreat.  We  have  never  ob- 
served it  ascend  trees  in  its  attempts  to  escape  when 
pursued."* 

March  26,  1899. — The  early  morning  was  damp 
and  misty.  About  nine  o'clock  the  sun  beamed  forth 
and,  aided  by  a  strong  breeze,  dispelled  the  fog.  I 
made  my  way  westward  toward  the  old  chimneys. 
Near  the  railway  I  saw  the  body  of  a  wild  cat,  Lynx 
rufus  Guld.,  which  had  evidently  been  killed  last 
night  by  a  train.  This  mammal  is  said  to  be  still  fre- 
quent in  the  hammocks  and  denser  forests,  but  seldom 
approaches  so  closely  to  the  town.  Its  range  appears 
to  be  the  whole  of  North  America. 

Beneath  a  chunk  in  the  sandy  roadway  were  a 
dozen  or  more  gigantic  millipedes  of  the  genus  Spir- 

*N.  Am.  Herp.,  1, 1836,  p.  72. 


CH&YSOMEL1D  BEETLES.  103 

obolus,  coiled  up  in  burrows  in  the  mold  and  sand. 
They  are  the  largest  examples  I  have  yet  seen,  being 
four  and  a  half  inches  in  length,  grayish  brown  in 
color  and  with  a  median  row  of  small  reddish  spots 
along  the  dorsal  surface. 

On  the  leaves  of  the  saw  palmetto,  I  find  occasion- 
ally a  small  and  very  handsome  Chrysomelid  beetle, 
which  adheres  to  the  leaf  so  closely  that  I  can  scarcely 
pull  it  away.  It  is  one  of  the  tortoise  beetles,  Porphy- 
raspis  cyanea  Say,  deep  violaceus  blue  in  color,  and 
less  than  one-quarter  of  an  inch  in  size.  The  thorax 
is  emarginate  in  front,  so  that  the  head  is  visible  from 
above,  while  the  outer  wings  and  thorax  contain  nu- 
merous large  pits  or  punctures.  A  single  example  of 
a  closely  allied,  but  larger  form,  Chelymorpha  argus 
Licht.,  not  before  listed  from  Florida,  was  also  taken 
from  a  leaf  of  a  convolvulus  plant.  It  is  reddish 
brown,  with  vestiges  of  small  black  spots,  on  wings 
and  thorax,  and  is  much  smaller  than  in  Indiana, 
where  it  occurs  frequently  on  the  leaves  of  bind- 
weeds. The  spots  are  also  much  larger  in  the  north- 
ern specimens.  They  are  seventeen  in  number,  so 
that  by  Say  the  insect  was  described  as  C.  17-punc- 
tata. 

In  the  old  fields  and  pine-barrens  of  this  region  one 
often  sees  a  great  mound  of  sand  thrown  up  about  the 
mouth  of  a  large  burrow,  which  resembles  closely  that 
of  the  ground-hog  or  woodchuck  of  the  northern 
states.  However,  it  is  not  the  home  of  a  mammal,  but 


104  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

of  a  dry  land  terrapin  or  tortoise,  known  as  the 
"gopher,"  Xerobates  polyphemus  Daudin.  This  is  a 
large,  thick-bodied  turtle,  whose  fore-limbs  are  espe- 
cially strong  on  account  of  the  centuries  of  subter- 
ranean digging  in  which  its  ancestors  have  engaged. 
In  color  it  is  an  ash  brown  above,  and  yellow  below. 
The  head  is  darker,  sometimes  being  almost  black. 
Recent  writers  place  its  maximum  size  at  fifteen 
inches,  but  Bartram,  writing  in  1Y91,  said  that  "when 
arrived  at  its  greatest  magnitude,  the  upper  shell  is 
near  eighteen  inches  in  length  and  ten  to  twelve 
inches  in  breadth.77  It  is  possible  that  the  size  has  de- 
creased since  he  wrote.  The  few  specimens  which  I 
have  seen  were  less  than  a  foot  in  length. 

The  gopher  is  herbivorous  and  both  nocturnal  and 
diurnal,  being  often  seen  feeding  in  the  afternoon. 
Like  the  common  northern  box  turtle,  Cistudo  Caro- 
lina L,,  when  disturbed  it  retracts  its  head  and  feet 
and  hisses  like  a  goose ;  but  seldom  snaps  or  attempts 
to  bite.  Both  Bartram  and  Holbrook  state  that  its 
flesh  is  used  for  food,  but  this  does  not  seem  to  be  the 
case  in  Florida.  However,  they  and  other  turtles  are 
often  chopped  up  and  fed  to  hogs  and  poultry.  It  is  a 
common  belief  that  the  burrows  of  the  gopher  extend 
down  to  ground  water,  but  Mr.  H.  GL  Hubbard,  who 
excavated  several  of  them,  says  that  the  galleries  are 
eighteen  or  twenty  feet  long  in  the  sandy  ridges  re- 
mote from  water,  and  that  they  descend  in  a  straight 
course  at  an  angle  of  35°,  and  terminate  abruptly, 


GUESTS  OF  THE  GOPHER.  105 

usually  in  a  layer  of  indurated  subsoil,  at  a  depth  of 
eight  or  nine  feet  below  the  surface.  Since  but  little 
has  been  written  concerning  the  home  of  the  gopher, 
and  the  companions  with  which  it  is  surrounded  in 
that  home,  I  quote  at  length  from  Mr.  Hubbard's  in- 
teresting description,  as  follows: 

"Like  its  European  relative,  the  gopher  is  a  very 
long-lived  animal.  That  it  may  live  more  than  one 
hundred  years  I  am  inclined  to  believe  is  true.  Cer- 
tain it  is  that  a  quarter  of  a  century  brings  little  or  no 
change  to  a  full-grown  tortoise,  and  the  oldest  inhabit- 
ants in  Florida  can  not  tell  of  the  beginnings  of  some 
of  their  burrows.  Such  ancient  and  well-established 
domiciles,  with  entrances  always  invitingly  open,  nat- 
urally serve  as  places  of  refuge  for  many  animals, 
when  hard  pressed  by  enemies,  or  to  night  prowlers 
when  daylight  overtakes  them  far  from  their  proper 
homes.  Even  the  rattlesnake,  according  to  popular 
repute,  has  a  more  than  passing  acquaintance  with 
these  cool  retreats. 

"A  number  of  years  ago  I  learned  that  the  gopher 
has  for  a  permanent  guest,  a  sort  of  parlor  boarder, 
as  it  were,  a  batrachian,  commonly  called  the  'gopher 
toad.7  Specimens  of  these  I  frequently  saw  on  sum- 
mer evenings  sitting  at  the  entrance  of  the  burrows 
after  the  manner  of  toads,  quietly  waiting  for  their 
supper  to  come  to  them.  On  the  slightest  alarm  these 
timid  creatures  leaped  quickly  back  into  the  gopher 
hole  and  saved  themselves,  so  that  it  was  not  until 


106  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

lately  that  I  succeeded  in  capturing  a  specimen,  and 
found  to  my  surprise  that  the  so-called  toad  was  a  ver- 
itable frog.  The  herpetologists  of  the  National  Mu- 
seum, to  whom  I  have  recently  forwarded  specimens, 
pronounce  it  the  very  rare  subspecies  Rana  areolata 
cvsopiis  Cope.  Indeed,  only  the  type  specimen  ex- 
isted in  the  Museum  collection,  and  of  its  habits  noth- 
ing is  known. 

"The  desire  to  know  something  more  of  the  gopher 
and  its  associates  led  me  finally  to  undertake  the  la- 
borious task  of  excavating  and  thoroughly  examining 
one  of  their  burrows.  Accordingly,  in  January,  1893, 
I  selected  one  of  the  largest  burrows  near  my  winter 
home  at  Crescent  City,  Florida,  and  proceeded  to 
open  and  inspect  its  inner  recesses.  The  excavation 
was  in  the  loose  yellow  sand  of  our  pine  woods  sub- 
soil, and  when  my  exploration  was  completed,  so  large 
a  pit  had  been  dug  that  a  coach  and  span  of  horses 
might  have  been  swallowed  up  in  it. 

"I  had  not  descended  many  feet  along  the  course 
of  the  burrow  when  I  found  that  the  walls  and,  par- 
ticularly the  roof  of  the  gallery,  were  alive  with  speci- 
mens of  a  wingless  cricket*  of  the  genus  Ceutho- 
philus. 

"I  next  caught  a  glimpse  of  a  very  diaphanous  Sta- 
phylinid,  but  so  agile  was  this  beetle  and  so  like  in 
color  to  the  surrounding  sand  that  several  specimens 
slipped  in  succession  through  my  fingers  and  escaped 

"Not  a  true  cricket,  but  a  member  of  the  family  Locustidae  — W.  S.  B. 


THE  HOME  OF  THE  GOPHER.        107 

me.  In  subsequent  explorations  I  recaptured  this  in- 
sect, which  proves  to  be  a  Philonthus  hitherto  unde- 
scribed,  and  remarkable  for  its  slenderness  of  stature, 
its  lack  of  color,  and  the  distinctly  subterranean  ap- 
pearance which  marks  a  true  cave  insect  and  dweller 
in  darkness.  As  I  approached  the  end  of  the  burrow, 
the  sand  became  fairly  alive  with  larvae  and  imagoes 
of  a  small  Aphodius  beetle,  also  a  colorless  and  unde- 
scribed  species,  very  subterranean  in  appearance. 

"At  the  extreme  end  of  the  tunnel  I  found  the 
gopher,  quiescent  but  not  dormant  and  resting  upon 
a  thin  layer  of  fibrous  material,  evidently  the  winter 
accumulation  of  its  excreta,  in  which  could  be  plainly 
discerned  the  coarser  and  undigested  portions  of  the 
leaves  and  vegetation  which  formed  its  food.  Beneath 
this  layer  the  sand  was  mined  in  every  direction  with 
the  burrows  of  insects,  and  I  soon  had  a  considerable 
collection,  among  which  was  a  Copris  beetle,  which, 
from  its  size  and  general  appearance,  I  took  without 
doubt  to  be  the  universally  distributed  Copris  min- 
utus  of  our  barnyards.  But,  upon  comparison  with 
the  known  forms  of  the  genus,  this  proves  to  be  quite 
a  new  and  distinct  species. 

"Besides  the  main  deposit  of  refuse  matter  upon 
which  the  animal  was  resting,  I  found  several  smaller 
deposits  which  had  evidently  been  pressed  aside  and 
partly  imbedded  in  the  sand  by  the  movements  of  the 
turtle.  These  were  all  centers  of  attraction  for  the 
dung-eating  beetles,  but  I  found  lurking  in  one  of 


108  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

the  masses  a  number  of  lepidopterous  larvae  an  inch 
or  so  long.  Their  dusky  brown  coloration  so  closely 
corresponded  with  the  material  in  which  they  lay  con- 
cealed that  I  would  probably  have  overlooked  them 
had  not  their  lively  antics,  their  wriggling  and  twist- 
ing when  disturbed,  made  them  very  conspicuous 
objects. 

"Only  three  burrows  were  opened  in  January,  and 
of  these  one  alone  was  inhabited  by  the  gopher.  In 
the  month  of  July  following,  I  examined  a  larger 
number  of  gopher  burrows,  and  in  all  eight  galleries 
were  carefully  and  thoroughly  explored.  The  mid- 
summer explorations  greatly  increased  the  knowledge 
previously  gained  of  the  habits  of  the  gopher  insects 
and  added  several  new  forms  to  the  list."4 

Altogether,  Mr.  Hubbard  found  one  frog  and  thir- 
teen species  of  insects  living  with  the  gophers.  Of  the 
insects,  eight  were  beetles,  and  of  these  seven  were 
species  new  to  science.  The  other  was  the  only 
beetle  found  living  with  the  gopher  which  also  occurs 
above  ground.  Besides  the  beetles,  the  insects  col- 
lected were  a  deltoid  moth,  the  wingless  "cricket" 
above  mentioned;  a  pseudo-scorpion  and  two  species 
of  ticks.  All  of  these  but  one  were  undescribed.  Thus 
it  will  be  seen  that  this  interesting  association  of 
messmates  and  parasites  of  the  gopher  forms  a  dis- 
tinctively underground  fauna  in  which  the  beginning 
of  true  cave  life  is  very  instructively  shown. 

*  Insect  Life,  VI,  1894,  p.  303,  et  seq. 


AT  ORMOND  BY  THE  SEA.  109 

The  sand  fly,  or  gnat,  a  minute  grayish  midge,  less 
than  one-sixteenth  of  an  inch  in  length,  has  made  its 
spring  appearance.  Its  bite  is  sharp  and  penetrating, 
and,  when  present  in  numbers,  it  is  one  of  the  worst 
insect  pests  along  the  coast. 

Though  news  of  a  great  storm  of  snow  and  sleet  has 
come  to  us  from  the  north  to-day,  the  air,  sun  and  veg- 
etation here  is  like  that  of  mid-May  in  central  Indi- 
ana. Here  in  this  clearing  in  the  woods  is  peace  and 
quietude,  taught  but  the  occasional  hum  of  a  mos- 
quito and  the  soughing  of  the  wind  through  the  pines 
doth  break  the  solitude.  How  strange  it  seems  that 
but  a  few  hours'  ride  will  take  us  into  a  land  of  pierc- 
ing cold  and  drifting  snow,  when  here  is  a  perfect  sky, 
Avith  the  sun  shedding  his  blessings  o'er  all  his  subjects 
with  a  kindly  spirit.  No  snow,  no  ice,  no  leafless,  life- 
less trees,  no  drooping  floAvers  are  here  to-day.  Noth- 
ing but  joy  and  sunshine  and  gladness  are  the  portion 
of  nature's  objects. 

March  21,  1899. — This  morning  I  breakfasted 
early  and  then  trudged  along  the  railway  for  three 
miles  or  more  to  the  bridge  across  the  Tomoka  River. 
A  heavy  dew  and  cloudy  skies  at  first  surrounded  me, 
but  the  rays  of  "old  Sol"  soon  dried  the  dew  and  scat- 
tered the  clouds. 

At  nine  o'clock  I  am  sitting  in  the  shadow  formed 
by  a  bold,  overhanging  cliff  of  coquina  limestone,  a 
natural  concrete  made  from  finely  ground  beach 
shells,  cemented  by  carbonate  of  lime.  'Tis  a  sub- 


110 


A  NATURE  WOOING. 


stance  well  nigh  indestructible,  of  which  were  built 
the  oldest  forts  and  houses  by  the  Caucasians  in 
America,  those  of  the  first  settlers  at  St.  Augustine. 
JTis  the  first  cliff  of  any  kind  I  have  seen  in  Florida. 
I  rest  my  back  and  head  against  it  and  gaze  down  at 
the  dark  waters  of  the  Tomoka,  deep,  shadowy,  slow 
flowing.  At  my  right  is  a  cabbage  palmetto,  lifting 

its  crown  of  leaves 
fifty  feet  above 
me.  Bending  far 
out  from  the  edge 
jof  the  cliff  and 
overhanging  the 
water  is  a  live 
oak,  unwedgeable 
and  gnarled,  its 
branches  clad  here 
and  there  with 
long  pendent  tufts 
of  gray  Span- 
ish moss.  Poly- 
pody ferns  and 
poison  ivy  spring 
from  the  crevices 
along  the  face  of 
the  rock.  A  hand- 
some climbing  vine,  with  compound  evergreen 
leaves  and  red  trumpet  shaped  flowers  two  inches  in 
length,  twines  among  the  tree  tops  and  sprangles  over 


Fig.  35— Cross  Vine.    (After  Britton.) 

(Showing  flowers  aud  fruit  pod  two-fifths  natural  size.) 


DARK  WATERS.  Ill 

the  face  of  the  cliff.  7Tis  the  cross  vine,  Bignonia 
capreolata  L.,  own  cousin  to  our  northern  trumpet 
creeper,  and  bearing  the  latter  company  as  far  north- 
ward as  the  valley  of  the  lower  Wabash.  Several  red 
cedars  of  large  size  add  a  tinge  of  somberness  to  the 
scene.  All  is  as  quiet  as  the  grave.  ISTo  song  of  bird, 
no  hum  of  insect  breaks  the  solitude. 

Bartram  accounts  for  the  dark  hue  of  the  water  in 
these  southern  lowland  streams  as  follows:  "In  all 
the  flat  countries  of  Carolina  and  Florida,  the  waters 
of  the  rivers  are,  in  some  degree,  turgid,  and  have  a 
dark  hue,  'owing  to  the  annual  firing  of  the  forests  and 
plains;  and  afterwards  the  heavy  rains  washing  the 
light  surface  of  the  burnt  earth  into  rivulets,  which 
rivulets  running  rapidly  over  the  surface  of  the  earth, 
flow  into  the  rivers,  and  tinge  the  waters  the  color 
of  lye  or  beer."* 

It  is  probable  that  the  Vast  amount  of  decaying 
vegetation  in  the  low  hammocks  has  also  much  to  do 
with  the  color  of  the  water,  since  the  rills  and  brooks 
from  these  hammocks  feed,  for  the  most  part,  the 
larger  streams.  Wherever  a  spring  issues  from  bank 
or  cliff,  or  wells  up  from  far  below  the  surface,  the 
water  is  as  clear  as  in  our  northern  springs. 

A  water  snake  wriggles  and  squirms  its  way 
through  the  darksome  waters,  headed  toward  the  op- 
posite shore ;  but  when  a  third  of  the  way  across  turns 
tail  and  returns  to  its  mate.  It  mav  be  the  cotton- 


Loe.  cit.,  p.  223. 


112  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

mouth,  Ancistrodon  piscivorus  Hoik,  whose  bite  is 
reputed  more  poisonous  than  that  of  the  diamond  rat- 
tlesnake. It  may  be  a  harmless  Tropidonotus.  I  am 
too  far  above  it  to  determine  which. 

A  sign  board  on  a  tree  on  the  crest  of  the  cliff 
states  that  "This  is  Buckhead  Bluff,  the  site  of  the  old 
ferry  of  the  'King's  Road,'  constructed  by  the  Eng- 
lish 150  years  ago  from  St.  Mary's,  Georgia,  400  miles 
southward  into  Florida."  What  care  I  for  that? 
'Tis  a  bluff  of  stone  in  a  land  where  bluffs  are  almost 
unknown.  'Tis  something  akin  to  those  ledges  which 
I  have  climbed  time  upon  time  in  days  of  yore. 

I  note  the  body  of  a  butterfly  lying  beside  me  and 
its  presence  begets  a  revery  on  death — that  death 
which  cometh  to  one  and  all  in  some  form — which 
is  as  inevitable  as  the  rising  of  to-morrow's  sun. 
Whether  it  comes  to  the  mansion  of  the  rich,  where 
every  desire  of  the  invalid  is  granted,  or  to  the  hovel 
of  the  hermit,  where  solitude  is  its  only  companion ; 
whether  it  conies  in  the  cool  shade  on  the  mountain's 
side,  or  in  the  burning  glare  of  the  noonday  sun  on  a 
desert  waste,  it  matters  little ;  it  can  come  but  once. 
Peace  and  forgetfulness  are  its  accompaniments.  All 
hopes,  all  fears,  all  hatreds,  all  loves,  all  desires,  all 
passions,  become  forever  things  of  the  past.  The  step 
is  taken  into  the  great  unknown.  Millions,  aye,  hun- 
dreds of  billions  of  human  forms,  of  plant  and  animal 
forms,  have  gone — not  one  has  e'er  returned  to  tell 
us  of  the  way.  All  concerning  it  is  guess  work.  The 


RE  VER  Y  ON  DEA  TH.  113 

wisdom  of  years'  experience  stored  in  the  gray  matter 
of  cerebral  cells  availeth  nothing.  The  clay — the 
matter — is  left  behind.  The  living  part — the  energy 
— passeth  beyond.  Like  that  heat  which,  transmitted 
into  electric  power,  propels  a  car,  and  then,  by  fric- 
tion, passes  into  space,  so  the  energy  of  all  living 
forms  joins  that  sum  total  of  all  energies,  which  per- 
vadeth  the  universe.  The  thoughts  which  man  has 
inscribed,  the  good  which  he  has  done  to  his  fellow- 
man;  the  ambitions,  the  loves,  the  hopes  which  he 
has  inspired,  are  left  and  become  a  part  of  the  world's 
wealth,  for  the  future  use  of  mankind. 

He  who  can  get  his  pleasures  during  life  from  sim- 
ple, common  things,  is  the  happiest,  the  richest.  I£ 
the  song  of  bird,  the  habits  of  insects,  the  colors  of 
flowers  and  the  graceful  forms  of  leaves  afford  me 
material  for  thought  and  reason,  and  lead  to  my  con- 
tentment, I  am  most  fortunate.  Then,  O  Mature,  let 
me  be  a  devotee  to  thee  while  life  remains!  For, 
when  death  calls  and  forgetfulness  of  thy  charms  be- 
comes my  lot — 

"Thy  womb  once  more  shall  shield  thy  child  within, 
And  I  shall  be  what  I  before  have  been, 

A  part  of  thee,  by  thee  caressed, 

My  first  beloved,  my  last,  my  best, 
My  mother,  mother  Nature. ' ' 

March  28,  1899. — The  day,  hot  and  sultry,  the 
mercury  at  82  °  F.  at  breakfast  time.  I  don  my  thin- 
nest coat,  and  clad  only  in  that  garb  which  I  wear  on 


114 


A  NATURE  WOOING. 


hottest  day  in  midsummer,  I  sally  forth — to  bathe  in 
the  sunshine  and  inhale  full  inspirations  of  pure  air 
— the  two  chief  blessings  which  this  land  offers  free 
to  all  who  come. 


Fig.  36— Plicated  Woodpecker.     (After  Beal.) 

On  my  way  toward  the  shell  mound  I  note  the  gal- 
loping flight  of  that  king  of  woodpeckers,  Ceophlceus 
pileatus  L.  In  great,  long  sweeping  curves  he  moves 


THE  PILEATED  WOODPECKER.  115 

onward.  What  a  power  in  his  pectoral  muscles! 
Alighting  on  an  oak  and  glancing  about,  his  eagle  eye 
soon  perceives  me — a  supposed  enemy.  His  crest, 
redder  than  arterial  blood,  is  erected,  stands  straight 
up.  He  hops  upward  along  the  branch,  gives  an  in- 
voluntary peck  or  two,  but  all  the  time  I  am  the 
cynosure  of  his  eagle-like  glances.  He  moves  part 
way  around  the  limb  on  which  he  rests,  then,  as  I 
take  a  step  forward  to  get  a  better  view,  he  is  away 
in  that  strong,  unerring,  galloping  flight,  to  the 
deeper  shades  of  the  forest.  A  few  moments  later 
I  see  another.  Here  in  the  forest  primeval  they  hold 
their  own.  Here  they  cope  with  all  enemies.  Here 
they  fight  successfully  the  battle  of  life.  Their  ease 
of  movement,  their  independence,  puts,  for  the  time 
being,  new  hope  in  my  heart,  new  courage  in  my  soul. 
Why  may  not  I  be  as  full  of  spirits,  as  free  of  flight, 
as  independent,  as  this  creature  of  the  air,  this  wood- 
pecker, the  pileated  ? 

Yesterday  afternoon  I  ran  across  a  new  locust  in 
the  old  orange  orchard,  where  I  have  found  the  first 
specimens  of  most  of  the  Orthopterans  I  have  taken. 
The  males  were  most  abundant;  the  females  just 
moulting  for  the  last  time.  It  proves  to  be  Melano- 
plus  propinquus  McNeill,  closely  allied  to  the  com- 
mon northern  M.  femur-rubrum  DeG.  It  is  a  slender 
bodied,  long  winged  species,  dull  in  color,  but  grace- 
ful in  movement.  They  are  active  leapers,  flying 
noiselessly  for  several  rods,  and  then  settling  down 


116  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

upon  a  bunch  of  grass,  the  color  of  which  is  grayish 

brown,  like  that  of  their  backs. 

A  long-winged  male  of  the  common  field  cricket, 

Gryllus  pennsylvanicus  Burm.,  is  taken  to-day.    This 

appears  to  be  the  only  species  of  Gryllus  hereabouts 

at  this  season.  The 
short-winged  form  .is 
much  the  more  com- 
mon, but  four  of  the 
long-winged  ones  being- 
taken  during  the  whole 

Fig.  37-A  Field  Cricket.  of   my   collecting.       The 

Gryllus  pennsylvanicus  Burm.  .  , 

species  ranges  over  the 
whole  United  States,  and  varies  much  in  size. 

I  note  the  remains  of  ferns  high  up  on  the  cab- 
bage palmettos,  among  the  "boot jacks,"  just  below 
the  crown  of  leaves.  There  they  found  nourishment 
in  the  summer  months,  but  the  unwonted  frosts  have 
sapped  their  vitality  and  left  them  brown  and  sere. 

If  one  wants  peace  and  quiet,  soothing  sunshine 
and  balmy  breezes,  here  is  his  ideal  resting  place  on 
such  a  day  as  this — here  in  a  pine  and  palmetto  grove, 
where  the  only  sound  is  that  of  a  falling  leaf  or 
creaking  branch,  and  where  the  woodsy  odor  of  pines 
is  present  day  and  night, 

March  29,  1899. — Yesterday  noon  the  mercury 
stood  at  92° ;  last  night  at  ten  o'clock,  at  80°  ;  this 
morn,  at  five,  it  had  sunk  to  48°.  Such  are  the 
changes  to  which  one  is  subjected  here  in  the  "Land 


TEE  LONQ-LEAVED  PINE.  117 

of  Flowers."  It  seems  that  spring  here,  as  in  the 
north,  oftentimes  lingers;  like  a  coy  maiden — now 
advancing,  now  retreating.  Some  of  these  days  the 
coyness  will  be  thrust  aside,  and  with  a  mighty  rush 
and  joyous  embrace  she  will  enthrall  us,  and  soon 
merge  into  the  perfect  woman — the  June  of  summer. 
To-day  I  walk  to  the  Tomoka  cabin  at  Misener's 
Landing.  The  way  takes  me  past  the  "old  chimneys," 
over  a  causeway  wide  and  beautiful,  which  winds  in 
and  out  among  palms  and  palmettos,  moss  and  dense 
foliage.  This  is  succeeded  by  a  mile  of  sandy  road, 
bordered  with  underbrush,  beyond  which  are  the 
high,  open  pine  woods.  Scattered  at  intervals  among 
the  pines,  is  a  scrubby  live  oak  with  dense  evergreen 
foliage.  Here  and  there  is  a  pine  snapped  off  in  the 
breeze,  but  otherwise  the  woods  are  free  from  ob- 
structions. 'Tis  the  long-leaved  pine,  Pinus  palus- 
tris  Mill.,  'which  flourishes  in  these  barrens.  The 
needles  or  leaves  are  at  times  eighteen  inches  in 
length.  The  stems  of  the  young  trees  are  scaly  or 
scurfy  to  the  top.  This  is  the  most  common  species  of 
pine  in  east  Florida,  and  the  most  valuable  of  all  the 
pines  growing  in  the  southern  states.  From  its  lum- 
ber the  houses  and  fences  are  mainly  constructed, 
while  from  its  sap  or  juice,  ninety  per  cent,  of  the 
resin,  turpentine,  pitch  and  tar  of  commerce  are  ob- 
tained. It  has  a  number  of  common  names  other 
than  long-leaved  pine,  among  which  yellow  pine,  pitch 
pine,  red  pine  and  broom  pine  are  the  ones  most 


118  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

used.  The  specific  name  palustris,  meaning,  "swamp- 
growing,"  which  was  assigned  to  it  when  its  habits 
were  but  little  known,  is  a  misnomer,  inasmuch  as  the 
tree  flourishes  best  on  dry  and  sandy,  rather  than 
damp,  soil.  On  account  of  the  abundance  and  value 
of  this  pine,  I  have  thought  best  to  include  herewith 
the  following  extracts  from  Michaux's  excellent  de- 
scription of  the  tree  and  its  products: 

"The  long-leaved  pine  is  found  almost  without  in- 
terruption in  the  lower  part  of  the  Carolinas,  Geor- 
gia and  the  Floridas,  over  a  tract  more  than  six  hun- 
dred miles  long  from  northeast  to  southwest,  and 
more  than  one  hundred  miles  broad  back  from  the 
sea.  The  mean  stature  of  this  pine  is  sixty  or  sev- 
enty feet,  with  an  uniform  diameter  of  fifteen  or 
eighteen  inches  for  two-thirds  of  this  height.  Some 
stocks,  favored  by  local  circumstances,  attain  much 
larger  dimensions,  particularly  in  east  Florida.  The 
bark  is  somewhat  furrowed,  and  the  epidermis  de- 
taches itself  in  thin  transparent  sheets.  The  leaves 
are  about  a  foot  long,  of  a  beautiful  brilliant  green, 
united  to  the  number  of  three  in  the  same  sheath,  and 
collected  in  bunches  at  the  extremity  of  the  branches. 
They  are  longer  and  more  numerous  on  the  young 
stocks,  which  are  sometimes  cut  by  the  negroes  for 
brooms.  The  buds  are  very  large,  white,  fringed  and 
not  resinous. 

"The  bloom  takes  place  in  April ;  the  male  flowers 
form  masses  of  divergent  violet-colored  aments  about 


PRODUCTS  OF  THE  LONG-LEAVED  PINE.      119 

two  inches  long;  in  drying  they  shed  great  quantities 
of  yellowish  pollen,  which  is  diffused  by  the  wind  and 
forms  a  momentary  covering  on  the  surface  of  the 
land  and  water.  The  cones  are  very  large,  being 
seven  or  eight  inches  long,  and  four  inches  thick 
when  open,  and  are  armed  with  small  retorted  spines. 
In  the  fruitful  year  they  are  ripe  about  the  15th  of 
October,  and  shed  their  seeds  the  same  month.  The 
kernel  is  of  an  agreeable  taste,  and  is  contained  in  a 
thin  white  shell,  surmounted  by  a  membrane;  in 
every  other  species  of  American  Pine  the  shell  is 
black.  Sometimes  the  seeds  are  very  abundant,  and 
are  voraciously  eaten  by  wild  turkeys,  squirrels,  and 
the  swine  that  live  almost  wholly  in  the  woods.  But, 
in  the  unfruitful  year,  a  forest  of  a  hundred  miles  in 
extent  may  be  ransacked  without  finding  a  single 
cone. 

"The  resinous  products  of  the  long-leaved  pine  are 
of  five  sorts,  viz. :  Crude  turpentine,  spirits  of  turpen- 
tine, resin,  tar  and  pitch.  The  last  two  are  delivered 
in  their  natural  state ;  the  others  are  modified  by  the 
agency  of  fire  in  certain  modes  of  preparation.  Crude 
turpentine  is  the  sap  of  the  tree  obtained  by  making 
incisions  in  its  trunk.  It  begins  to  distil  about  the 
middle  of  March,  when  the  circulation  commences, 
and  flows  with  increasing  abundance  as  the  weather 
becomes  warmer,  so  that  July  and  August  are  the 
most  productive  months.  When  the  circulation  is 
slackened  by  the  chills  of  autumn,  the  operation  is 


120  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

discontinued,  and  the  remainder  of  the  year  is  occu- 
pied in  preparatory  labors  for  the  following  season, 
which  consist — first,  in  making  the  boxes.  This  is 
done  in  January  and  February ;  in  the  base  of  each 
tree,  about  three  or  four  inches  from  the  ground, 
and  of  preference  on  the  south  side,  a  cavity  is 
formed,  commonly  of  the  capacity  of  three  pints,  but 
proportioned  to  the  size  of  the  trunk,  of  which  it 
should  occupy  a  quarter  of  the  diameter;  on  stocks 
more  than  six  feet  in  circumference,  two,  and  some- 
times four,  boxes  are  made  on  opposite  sides.  Next 
comes  the  raking,  or  the  clearing  of  the  ground  at  the 
foot  of  the  trees  from  leaves  and  herbage,  by  which 
means  they  are  secured  against  the  fires  that  are  often 
kindled  in  the  woods  by  the  carelessness  of  travelers 
and  wagoners.  If  the  flames  gain  the  boxes  already 
impregnated  with  turpentine,  they  are  rendered  use- 
less and  others  must  be  made.  Notching  is  merely 
making  at  the  sides  of  the  box  two  oblique  gutters, 
about  three  inches  long,  to  conduct  into  it  the  sap  that 
exudes  from  the  edges  of  the  wound.  In  the  interval 
of  a  fortnight,  which  is  employed  in  this  operation, 
the  first  boxes  become  filled  with  sap.  A  wooden 
shovel  is  used  to  transfer  it  to  pails,  which,  in  turn, 
are  emptied  into  casks  placed  at  convenient  distances. 
To  increase  the  product,  the  upper  edge  of  the  box  is 
chipped  once  a  week,  the  bark  and  a  portion  of  the  al- 
burnum being  removed  to  the  depth  of  four  concentri- 
cal  circles.  The  boxes  fill  every  three  weeks.  After 


TAR  AND  TURPENTINE.  121 

five  or  six  years  the  tree  is  abandoned;  the  upper 
edge  of  the  wound  becomes  cicatrized,  but  the  bark 
is  never  restored  sufficiently  for  the  renewal  of  the 
process. 

"The  crude  turpentine,  when  distilled  in  large  cop- 
per retorts,  yields  up  about  seventeen  per  cent,  of  its 
bulk  in  the  form  of  an  oil,  known  as  'spirits  of  tur- 
pentine.' This  is  the  ordinary  'turpentine'  of  the 
drug  stores.  The  residuum  of  the  distillation  is  resin. 

"All  the  tar  of  the  southern  states  is  made  from 
dead  wood  of  the  long-leaved  pine,  consisting  of  trees 
prostrated  by  time  or  by  the  fire  kindled  annually  in 
the  forests;  of  the  summits  of  those  that  are  felled 
for  timber,  and  of  limbs  broken  off  by  the  ice  which 
sometimes  overloads  the  leaves.  To  procure  the  tar, 
a  kiln  is  formed  in  a  part  of  the  forest  abounding  in 
dead  wood ;  this  is  first  collected,  stripped  of  the  sap, 
and  cut  into  billets  two  or  three  feet  long  and  about 
three  inches  thick ;  a  task  which  is  rendered  long  and 
difficult  by  the  knots.  The  next  step  is  to  prepare  a 
place  for  piling  it ;  for  this  purpose  a  shallow  conical 
cavity  is  excavated  in  the  side  of  a  bank  or  hill,  and  a 
cast  iron  pan  placed  at  the  bottom,  from  which  leads 
a  spout  into  a  barrel  for  collecting  the  tar.  On  this 
pan  is  piled  the  wood  in  a  circle.  The  pile  when 
finished  is  cone  shaped — twenty  feet  in  diameter  be- 
low, and  ten  to  twelve  feet  high.  It  is  then  strewed 
with  pine  leaves,  covered  with  earth,  and  contained 
at  the  sides  with  a  slight  cincture  of  wood.  This  cov- 


122  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

ering  is  necessary  in  order  that  the  fire  kindled  at  the 
top  may  penetrate  to  the  bottom  with  a  slow  and 
gradual  combustion.  If  the  whole  mass  was  rapidly 
inflamed,  the  operation  would  fail  and  the  labor  in 
part  be  lost ;  in  fine,  nearly  the  same  precautions  are 
exacted  in  this  process  as  are  observed  in  making 
charcoal.  A  kiln,  which  is  to  afford  one  hundred  or 
one  hundred  and  thirty  barrels  of  tar,  is  eight  or  nine 
days  in  burning.  Pitch  is  tar  reduced  by  evapora- 
tion ;  it  should  not  be  diminished  beyond  half  its  bulk 
to  be  of  a  good  quality."* 

Far  in  the  distance  I  hear  a  sign  of  civilization — 
the  crow  of  a  rooster.  Long  live  his  clarion  voiced 
tongue !  In  the  past  it  has  guided  me  out  of  many  a 
wilderness. 

Beneath  the  dead  bark  of  a  pine  snag,  I  take  a 
large  oblong  Tenebrio  beetle,  Polypleurus  nitidus 
Lee.  It  is  black,  with  numerous  rows  of  punctures  on 
its  outer  wings,  and  is  said  to  occur  frequently  in  the 
pine  woods  of  this  region. 

Once  more  I  sit  at  the  festal  board  on  the  porch  of 
the  Tomoka  cabin,  but  sit  alone.  The  merry  party 
that  gathered  round  this  table  on  last  Friday  has  scat- 
tered, never  to  meet  again.  And  what  of  life  have  I 
learned  since  here  we  met?  What  of  hope  have  I 
had?  It  matters  little  whether  with  party  gay,  or 
whether  in  solitude,  one's  conscience  is  ever  present, 
one's  memory  is  ever  with  him.  The  wind  soughs 

*  North  American  Sylva,  III,  1819,  pp.  134,  et  seq. 


GRAINS  OF  SAND.  123 

through  the  pines  with  mournful  cadence  and  sets  the 
long  tufts  of  moss  a-dangling.  The  wind  blows  more 
in  Florida  than  any  place  I  have  ever  been,  but  it  is 
usually  tempered  with  sunshine,  and,  therefore,  less 
disagreeable. 

But  list — the  sound  of  a  human  voice  breaks  my 
solitude — a  woman's  voice,  clear  and  flute-like.  I 
look  around  and  find  that  a  party  of  ladies  have  come 
out  from  my  boarding  house  and  have  brought  my 
lunch,  as  well  as  theirs.  I  need  not,  therefore,  hurry 
away.  I  can  turn  over  more  chunks,  explore  more 
pathways,  wend  more  slowly  my  footsteps  homeward. 

These  sands  on  which  I  sit  and  which  form  the  sur- 
face in  these  woods,  could,  if  given  the  power  of 
speech,  tell  a  wonderful  story.  What  was  the  birth- 
place of  the  silicon  which  forms  their  grains  ?  Of  what 
ledge  of  rock  were  they  first  a  part  ?  For  untold  mil- 
lions of  years,  as  man  counts  time,  have  they  existed ! 
Again  and  again  have  they  been  swept  hither  and 
thither  by  the  forces  of  nature.  Winds  and  waves 
have  been  the  powers  which  have  wafted  them  on — 
the  steeds  which  have  pulled  them  along.  Were  it 
not  for  the  grass  roots  which  now  bind  them  together 
and  hold  them  in  place,  the  wind  now  blowing  would 
send  them  scurrying  before  it.  To-morrow's  breezes 
might  bring  them  back.  Thus  the  area  over  which 
they  would  travel  in  a  century  might  be  only  a  small 
portion  of  the  surface  of  the  earth. 


124  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

In  the  mold  and  sand  beneath  a  chunk  I  find  a 
worm-like  snake,  or  a  snake-like  worm,  I  know  not 
which.  It  is  a  foot  in  length  and  of  a  purplish  flesh 
color ;  has  a  head  covered  with  plates  like  a  snake,  but 
no  eyes.  The  body  is  encircled  with  numerous  whorls 
or  rings,  each  of  which,  under  the  lens,  is  seen  to  be 
made  up  of  many  minute  oblong  plates.  The  tail  is 
less  than  an  inch  in  length  and  depressed  above.  On 
its  upper  surface  the  last  dozen  rings  have  their  plates 
modified  into  transverse  rows  of  tubercles.  It  resem- 
bles very  much  a  gigantic  fishing  worm.  It  is  quite 
lively,  coiling  itself  about  my  fingers,  in  the  same 
manner  as  does  the  brown  worm  snake,  Carphophiops 
amoena  Say,  of  the  north,  and  darting  forth  its  white 
tongue  in  true  snake-like  fashion. 

On  my  way  home  I  stop  and  rest  for  a  while  in  the 
doorway  of  a  deserted  cabin  in  the  midst  of  the  pine 
woods.  The  floor  and  door  of  the  cabin  are  gone. 
Window,  it  had  none.  The  walls  are  of  pine  logs  five 
to  seven  inches  in  diameter,  unchinked,  with  a  space 
cut  through  one  of  them  for  a  stove  pipe  to  protrude. 
It  contains  a  single  room,  twenty-five  feet  square,  and 
is  roofed  with  pine  clapboards.  That  it  has  long  been 
deserted  is  evidenced  by  numerous  young  pines  which 
have  sprung  up  close  about  it. 

What  hopes,  what  fears,  what  ambitions,  what  de- 
spairs, what  loves,  what  hates,  have  existed  or  have 
been  engendered  in  this  old  cabin !  What  lives  have 
here  begun  their  existence  ?  What  souls  have  here 


A  LEGLESS  LIZARD.  125 

received  their  last  unction  before  departing  into  the 
great  unknown  ?  Now  the  wild  grape  clambers  o'er 
the  roof.  Chamseleons  and  blue-tailed  skinks  hide 
in  the  crannies  between  the  logs.  Cockroaches  and 
centipedes  crawl  and  creep  beneath  the  beams  which 
supported  the  floor.  Here,  in  the  midst  of  the  pine 
woods,  unf  enced  and  unnoticed,  the  cabin  stands.  It 
was  once  a  home  to  some  contented  soul,  but  now  only 
the  creeping,  crawling  creatures  which  I  have  noted 
make  of  it  a  temporary  abiding  place.  Perchance,  in 
time  of  storm,  a  hoot  owl  finds  shelter  beneath  its  roof 
and  mocks  the  ghostly  voices  of  its  departed  human 
occupants. 

On  arriving  home  I  confer  with  my  books,  and  am 
surprised  to  find  that  my  chief  capture  of  the  day  is 
neither  a  snake  nor  a  worm,  but  a  legless  lizard,  Rhin- 
eura    floridana    Baird. 
It  is  known  only  from 
Florida,     having    been 
described  in  1858  from 
a    specimen    taken    at 
Micanopy.     It  is  called 
by     the     natives     the    ' 
"blind   wor  in,"    or  Fig.  33. 

"blind   Snake,"    and  is 


-.  Jl  (Top  and  side  riews  of  head  »nd  top  viaw  of  tail, 

exhumed.     by    per-  showing  traverse  rows  of  tubercles.) 

sons    digging    or   grub- 

bing in  the  gardens  or  plowing  in  the  orange  groves. 

Boulenger,  in  his  "Catalogue  of  Lizards  in  the  Brit- 


126  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

ish  Museum/7  enumerates  sixty-one  existing  species 
of  Amphisbmnidae,  the  family  to  which  these  curious 
snake-like  saurians  belong.  Of  these,  thirty-eight  are 
American,  but  one  of  which,  the  species  at  hand,  oc- 
curs north  of  the  Tropic  of  Cancer,  though  remains 
of  a  fossil  form,  Rhineura  hatclierii  Bauer,  have  been 
found  in  the  Oligocene  rocks  of  South  Dakota. 

As  in  most  other  subterranean  and  cave  forms,  rudi- 
ments of  eyes  are  present,  concealed  beneath  the 
skin.  All  the  members  of  the  family  are  burrowers, 
and  many  live  in  ants'  nests.  They  bore  narrow  gal- 
leries in  the  earth,  in  which,  like  an  earth  worm,  they 
are  able  to  move  backwards,  as  well  as  forwards.  On 
the  ground  they  progress  in  a  straight  line  by  slight 
vertical  undulations,  not  by  lateral  movements,  as  in 
other  limbless  reptiles.  The  tail  of  many  species  is 
more  or  less  prehensile.  The  food  of  all  these  lizards 
consists  mainly  of  ants  and  other  small  insects  and 
worms.* 

March  SO,  1899. — Seventy-two  degrees  at  break- 
fast time !  What  a  change  from  yesterday !  It  threat- 
ens rain,  but  rains  not.  The  sky  is  overcast  with 
clouds,  yet,  at  intervals,  the  sun  thrusts  his  counte- 
nance —  here  ever  smiling  —  through  the  rifts  and 
beams  upon  me.  I  take  my  way  slowly  to  the  base  of 
the  friendly  pine.  The  tree  sympathizes  with  me 
when  human  beings  lack  in  sympathy. 

*  I  afterwards  took  two  mangled  specimens  of  this  lizard  in  the  road- 
way near  the  shell  mound;  and  since  returning  to  Indiana,  have  had  a 
number  of  specimens  sent  me  from  the  vicinity  of  Ormond. 


DUST  UNTO  DUST.  127 

One  hears,  at  long  intervals,  a  tree  creak,  crack 
and  fall  in  the  pine  woods.  JTis  probably  some  snag 
which  the  breeze  has  at  last  overcome.  The  noise 
startles  one's  soul.  'Tis  a  weird,  uncanny  sound.  'Tis 
unexpected,  unlocked  for.  The  creaking  of  the  tree, 
as  its  roots  are  torn  asunder,  or  its  fibers  broken,  is 
not  so  appalling  as  the  thud  with  which  it  strikes  the 
earth.  The  latter  is  eager  to  once  more  clasp  its  form 
in  her  embrace ;  to  have  once  more  the  carbon,  hydro- 
gen and  oxygen  of  its  bole  and  branches  as  part  of  her 
bosom.  She  leaps  to  receive  it.  Body  of  earth  meets 
body  of  tree  with  equal  fervor.  Thud  answers  thud. 
'Twill  not  be  long  till  the  juices  of  decay  will  rend  the 
fibers  of  the  fallen  tree;  not  long  till  the  elements 
now  composing  branch  and  limb  will  be  scattered 
far  and  wide  in  fit  condition  to  become  once  more 
a  part  of  some  organic  being.  The  earth  is  ever 
eager  to  receive  the  dead  or  worn-out  objects  to 
which,  in  the  past,  she  has  given  birth.  More  eager 
is  she  to  put  their  bodies  into  such  a  shape  that  the 
elements  can  be  used  again.  Thus  does  our  common 
mother  prepare  and  yield  up  sustenance  for  her  off- 
spring. Thus  only  is  she  able  to  renew  her  progeny 
— to  cover  her  surface  with  new  generations  of  liv- 
ing, active  forms. 

A  little  distance  from  my  pine  tree  I  find  that  these 
woods  have  been  the  scene  of  a  great  holocaust  within 
the  past  few  days.  Myriads  of  living  forms  have 
been  swept  to  their  death  by  the  demon — fire.  It  has 


128  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

cleared  the  surface  of  underbrush  as  far  towards  the 
northwest  as  eye  can  reach.  Saw  palmettos  are 
withered  and  dead.  The  boles  of  pines  and  cabbage 
palmettos  are  scorched  to  a  dingy  black,  for  a  height 
of  twenty  feet  or  more.  The  charred  remains  of 
myriapods,  turtles  and  snakes  abound.  Chewinks  and 
other  ground  birds  are  lamenting  their  accustomed 
feeding  places.  All  is  ruin  and  devastation,  and  an- 
other woods  must  I  seek  in  order  to  find  recreation 
and  life. 

The  so-called  sea  trout,  Cynoscion  nebulosus  Cuv. 
and  Yal.,  caught  from  the  bridge  at  Onnond,  is  not  a 


Fig.  39— Sea  Trout. 

Cynoscion  nebulosus  Cuv.  and  Val. 
(Krom  Bull.  47,  U.  8.  Nat.  Mus.) 

trout,  but  a  "weak  fish,"  belonging  to  the  family 
Scicenidae.  It  is  probably  called  a  trout  on  account 
of  the  many  small  black  blotches  which  are  scattered 
irregularly  over  its  silvery  sides.  Mr.  Bristol  hooked 
one  in  the  back  to-day  and  succeeded  in  landing  it, 
which  weighed  a  little  more  than  seven  and  a  half 


GROUSE  LOCUSTS. 


129 


pounds.  Its  flesh  is  rich  and  delicate,  and  it  is  highly 
valued  as  a  food  fish.  Mr.  B.,  though  seventy-four 
years  of  age,  has  killed  with  a  rifle  sixty-seven  squir- 
rels this  past  winter.  Last  year  he  killed  one  hundred 
and  four,  and  the  year  before  more  than  two  hun- 
dred. All  were  gray  squirrels — a  third  smaller  than 
the  same  species  in  the  north. 

In  the  damp  cleared  area  near  the  border  of  a  ham- 
mock I  found  three  species  of  "grouse  locusts,"  be- 
longing to  as  many  genera.  They  are 
the  smallest  of  our  Acrididae,  being, 
when  full  grown,  less  than  a  half  inch 
in  length.  The  thorax  is  prolonged 
as  a  hard  crust,  covering  the  wings 


Fig.  40-A 
Grouse  Locust^ 

TettigidcE  lateralit 


and  body.  They  pass  the  winter,  as 
mature  insects,  beneath  logs  and  rub- 
bish and  are  to  be  seen  leaping  ac- 
tively about  on  any  warm  sunny  day, 
even  in  mid-winter.  One  of  those 
taken  to-day,  Paratettix  rugosus  Scudd., 
is  a  strong  and  active  flyer. 

With  these  little  acridians  I  also  found  a  number 
of  those  small,  sand  burrowing  crickets,  Ellipes  min- 
uta  Scudd.  They  likewise  are  the  smallest  of  the 
crickets  found  in  North  America,  as  when  full  grown 
they  are  but  one-fifth  of  an  inch  in  length.  The  fore 
tibiae  are  much  enlarged,  as  is  the  case  with  all  bur- 
rowers  which  possess  limbs.  They  live  in  little  pits 
in  the  sand,  from  which  thev  venture  forth  a  short 


130  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

distance  in  search  of  food.  When  disturbed  or 
frightened  they  are  powerful  leapers.  I  have  seen 
them  jump  to  a  height  of  five  feet,  and  to  a  distance 
as  great.  Three  known  species  occur  in  North  Amer- 
ica, the  other  two  belonging  to  the  genus  Tridactylus, 
being  nearly  twice  as  large  as  E.  minuta.*  This 
dwarf  form  ranges  as  far  north  as  central  Indiana, 
where  it  is  common.  It  is  dark  brown  in  color,  with 
the  legs  banded  and  thorax  spotted  with  white. 


Fig.  41— Ajax  Butterfly. 

Papilio  ajax  L. 


Specimens  of  the  Ajax  butterfly,  before  mentioned, 
were  secured  to-day  for  the  first  time,  and  prove  to  be 
the  variety  floridensis  Holland,  characterized  by  the 


*  S.  H.  Scudder,  Psyche,  Feb.,  1902,  p.  309. 


THE  JUMPING  MULLET.  131 

greater  breadth  and  intensity  of  the  black  bands  on 
the  upper  side  of  the  wings.  It  appears  to  be  rather 
common  in  this  region  during  March. 

March  31,  1899. — To-day  the  sun  shone  brightly, 
and  Mr.  B.  and  I  rowed  two  miles  up  the  Halifax  and 
landed  on  the  peninsula.  On  the  way  up  we  rowed 
through  a  school  of  mullet,  and  one  of  them  leaped 
into  the  boat.  While  the  boat  was  at  anchor  a  second 
jumped  into  it,  and  on  the  way  back  a  third  did  like- 
wise. This  one  began  jumping  sixty  or  eighty  feet 
distant,  and  after  giving  six  great  leaps,  clearing  each 
time  eight  to  ten  feet  of  water,  essayed  a  seventh,  and 
landed  squarely  between  us.  Mr.  B.  had  already  told 
me  of  going  out  at  night  with  another  party  and  a 


Fig.  42— Mullet. 

Mugil  cephalus  L. 
(From  Bull.  47,  U.  8.  Nat.  Mas.) 


lantern  in  a  boat,  in  the  latter  part  of  April,  when 
this  fish  was  running  in  great  numbers,  and  having 
361  leap  into  the  boat  during  an  hour  and  a  half's 
row.  I  had  hitherto  regarded  this  as  a  somewhat 


132  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

overdrawn  "fish  story,"  but,  taking  into  considera- 
tion to-day's  experience,  and  B.'s  reputation  for  ve- 
racity, have  concluded  that  it  may  be  relied  upon. 

This  mullet,  Mugil  cephalus  L.,  is  a  fish  of  wide 
range,  occurring  in  the  Atlantic  from  Cape  Cod  to 
Brazil ;  also  along  the  coasts  of  southern  Europe  and 
northern  Africa,  as  well  as  in  the  Pacific  from  Monte- 
rey to  Chili. 

Like  the  common  fresh  water  "suckers"  of  the 
north,  it  travels  in  schools,  and  seldom,  if  ever,  bites 
the  hook.  It  reaches  the  length  of  two  feet,  has  a 
rather  flat  head  and  large  eyes,  abdominal  ventral 
fins,  and  soft  rays.  The  flesh  of  the  mullet  is  soft 
and  bony,  and  soon  spoils ;  but  it  is  much  used  for 
food  on  account  of  its  great  numbers  and  the  ease 
with  which  it  is  taken. 

Besides  the  mullet  and  the  "sea  trout,"  already 
mentioned,  the  drum-fish,  Pogonias  cromis  L.,  is  often 
caught  from  the  bridge  at  Ormond,  one  specimen 
weighing  forty-five  pounds  having  been  taken  in  Feb- 
ruary. It  is  rather  a  coarse  fish,  of  no  grea.t  value  as 
food.  The  largest  specimen  on  record  was  taken  a  few 
years  ago  at  St.  Augustine,  and  weighed  146  pounds. 
Sea-bass,  Scwenops  ocettatus  L.,  weighing  ten  to  sixty 
pounds,  are  frequently  caught  in  the  surf,  as  are  also 
sharks  of  much  larger  size. 

Near  where  we  landed  on  the  peninsula,  a  pretty 
woodland  path  has  been  cut  out  through  the  under- 
brush across  that  body  of  land  to  the  sea.  By  pass- 


SOME  FLORIDA  BEETLES.  133 

ing  along  this  path,  for  which  in  places  the  sand  has 
been  excavated  for  three  or  four  feet,  one  notes  that 
the  surface  of  the  peninsula  is  composed  of  alternate 
high  sandy  ridges  and  low  swales.  Its  western  half 
is  evidently  of  much  the  older  origin,  since  on  it  are 
large  pines,  oaks,  hickories,  etc. ;  while  the  eastern 
portion  bears  only  a  thick  chaparral  of  saw  palmetto, 
with  here  and  there  a  clump  of  scrub  oaks. 

April  1,  1899. — All  the  morning  clouds  hid  the 
sun,  and  nature  wept  copious  tears.  In  other  words, 
it  rained — torrents  at  times — gently  at  intervals.  A 
little  after  ten  the  heavens  cleared  and  I  went  forth 
along  the  woodland  lane  in  search  of  beetles. 

On  the  leaves  of  an  oak,  I  found  a  pair  of  small 
scarabs,  Diplotaxis  languida  Lee.,  described  from 
Tampa  in  1878,  and  known  only  from  Florida.  It  is 
light  brown  in  color,  and  but  one-quarter  of  an  inch 
in  length ;  the  male,  as  commonly,  more  slender  than 
the  other  sex.  A  leaf  of  another  oak  yielded  a  speci- 
men of  a  handsome  Chrysomelid,  Cryptocephalus  bi- 
vius  E~ewm.,  one-fifth  of  an  inch  in  length.  Its  tho- 
rax bears  four  lengthwise  stripes  each  of  black  and 
yellow,  while  the  elytra,  or  outer  wings,  are  brick  red, 
with  three  transverse  rows  of  black  spots.  It  is  a  rare 
species  of  our  southern  insect  fauna.  A  closely  allied 
species,  C.  guttulata  Oliv.,  was  also  taken  from  a 
nearby  shrub. 

On  my  way  to  the  shell  mound,  where  I  am  now 
writing,  I  met  an  old  friend,  Calosoma  scrutator  Fab., 


134 


A  NATURE  WOOING. 


walking  rapidly  over  the  fallen  leaves  in  the  palmetto 
groves.  I  said  "Hello/7  and  consigned  him  to  my 
cyanide  bottle,  to  remind  me  in  future  years  that  he 

is  found  mature  on 
April  Fool's  Day  in 
Florida.  This  large, 
bright  colored  beetle 
is  not  recorded  in  any 
of  the  published  lists 
of  Florida  Coleoptera. 
It  reaches  a  length  of 
one  and  a  fifth  inches 
and  is  bright  green,  ex- 
cept the  margins  of  the 
elytra,  which  are  tinged 
with  coppery  red.  It 

ranges  over  almost  the  entire  United  States,  and  is 
carnivorous  in  habit;  being  usually  found  running 
about  in  search  of  some  caterpillar  or  other  insect  or 
worm  which  will  furnish  it  a  meal. 

From  the  yellow  flowers  of  a  senecio  I  take  a  half- 
dozen  specimens  of  a  tri-colored  hemipteron,  Me- 
lanocoryphus  ~bicrucis  Say.  It  is  a  common  southern 
"bug,"  seven-twentieths  of  an  inch  in  length;  the 
ground  color  red;  the  head,  feet,  front  margin  of, 
thorax  and  tips  of  elytra,  black.  The  inner  edges  of 
the  elytra  form  a  yellow  cruciate  line,  whence  the 
specific  name  licrucis. 


Fig.  43. 

Calosoma  tcrutator  Fab. 


WHAT  is  LIFE?  135 

The  large  green  dragonfly,  Anax  junius  Drury,  is 
very  abundant  to-day.  I  pick  with  the  fingers  from 
the  leaves  of  the  saw  palmetto  a  dozen  or  more. 

A  shower  at  this  season,  such  as  we  had  this  morn- 
ing, brings  out  the  insects  and  other  forms  of  life 
which  inhabit  a  sandy  region  like  this.  An  hour  after 
its  close  life  is  everywhere.  One  can  scarcely  lift  a 
chip  from  the  ground,  a  piece  of  bark  from  a  fallen 
tree,  or  gaze  upon  a  leaf  or  flower  without  finding 
some  form  of  worm,  mollusk,  insect,  or  higher  form 
of  life.  As  I  write,  a  small  black  Lampyrid  beetle, 
Polemius  sp.  ?,  alights  upon  my  hand  and  crawls  to 
and  fro  across  its  surface.  I  put  him  in  a  bottle,  and 
within  a  minute  or  two  the  life  that  was  within  him 
yields  to  the  fumes  of  the  deadly  cyanide,  and  ceases 
forever.  What  is  that  life  ?  Long  has  mortal  man, 
the  highest  of  all  living  things,  studied  and  pondered 
o'er  this  question,  yet  it  remains  unanswered.  If 
ever  answered,  it  will  be  by  the  science  of  chemistry, 
which  asserts  that  that  which  we  call  "life/7  be  it  in 
plant  or  be  it  in  animal,  is  but  the  manifestation  of 
the  workings  of  that  king  of  natural  forces,  cheimsm ; 
that  when  the  elements  in  the  living  laboratories,  the 
cells  of  the  organism,  cease  for  an  instant  to  combine, 
the  nascent  power  which  they  possessed  at  the  begin- 
ning of  that  instant  is  gone  forever — affinity  ends — 
what  we  call  "death77  ensues,  and  the  elements  go  back 
once  more  to  Mother  Earth,  to  be  used  again  by  some 
succeeding  organism.  And  yet,  some  of  the  forms 


136  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

which  possess  this  life  are  so  minute  that  it  seems  a 
miracle  how  the  organs  necessary  to  perpetuate  the 
chemical  changes  can  exist  within  the  bodies  of  the  be- 
ings which  possess  them.  Yet  live  they  do,  use  oxy- 
gen, assimilate  food,  grow,  reproduce  their  kind,  and 
perform  all  other  duties  necessary  to  their  existence, 
e'en  though  made  up  of  but  a  single  cell. 

April  2,  1899. — The  morning  fair;  the  wind  high; 
the  temperature  60°  at  7 : 30  o'clock.  I  betook  myself 
to  an  orange  grove  two  miles  west  of  Ormond,  in 
order  to  see,  if  possible,  orange  blossoms  before  I 
leave  Florida.  On  the  way  I  took  from  the  flowers 
of  a  Senecio  a  number  of  specimens  of  a  pretty  tri^ 
colored,  slender-bodied  beetle,  Languria  marginipen- 
nis  Schwz.  It  is  three-tenths  of  an  inch  in  length; 
red,  blue  and  black  in  color ;  the  black  being  confined 
to  the  head,  part  of  the  legs  and  a  spot  on  the  thorax ; 
and  the  blue  to  the  elytra.  It  was  described  from 
Tampa  and  Enterprise  in  1878,  and  is  not  known  to 
occur  north  of  this  state. 

At  the  orange  grove  I  found  but  a  single  blossom. 
I  got  the  scent  of  it,  but  left  it  as  a  reward  to  the 
owner  for  his  labor  and  expense  in  saying  the  tree 
from  the  ravages  of  the  frost.  This  is  the  only  grove 
in  an  area  of  one  hundred  square  miles  which,  escap- 
ing the  rigors  of  the  winter,  bears  green  leaves  and  an 
occasional  blossom.  The  owner,  warned  by  the 
weather  bureau  twelve  hours  in  advance,  placed  over 
each  tree  a  tent,  within  which  he  kept  burning  a  coal- 


THE  STRUCTURE  OF  A  "SHACK.' 


137 


oil  lamp.  Water  was  sprayed  over  the  outside  of  each 
tent  and  allowed  to  freeze.  It  cost  $3.50  each  to  save 
the  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  trees  of  the  grove. 
Another  season  it  will  cost  but  little,  as  the  tents  and 
oil  stoves  will  be  on  hand.  Verily,  in  this  part  of 
Florida  an  orange  grove  is  a  costly  plaything. 

From  the  leaves  of  one  of  the  trees  in  this  grove 
I  took  two  specimens  of  that  large,  dark  brown  heter- 
opterous  insect,  Metapodius  fem- 
oratus  Fab.  It  is  one  of  the 
largest  of  our  native  true  bugs, 
the  length  being  a  little  more 
than  an  inch.  Its  noteworthv 
characters  are  a  small  projecting 
spine  between  the  antennae;  the 
enlargement  of  the  hind  tibiae, 
by  a  dilated  and  compressed 
plate,  and  numerous  small  ele- 
vated dots  or  tubercles  on  the 
upper*  surface  of  the  thorax. 
It  is  said  to  be  a  rather  frequent  insect  in  the  Gulf 
states. 

On  my  way  home  I  stopped  for  a  time  in  a  deserted 
orange  grove,  near  the  old  Spanish  chimneys.  Here 
I  examined  carefully  the  structure  of  a  "shack" — one 
of  the  common  temporary  shelters  erected  by  the  na- 
tives or  occasionally  by  hunters  and  tourists.  It  con- 
sists of  a  framework  of  poles  nailed  to  posts  driven 
into  the  ground,  or  to  convenient  trees,  and  having 


Fig.  44. 

Metapodius  femoratus  Fab. 
(Three-fourths  natural  iize.) 


138  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

the  roof  and  sides  covered  with  several  layers  of  pal- 
metto leaves,  which  are  in  turn  nailed  to  the  poles,  so 
that  their  blades  overlap,  thus  furnishing  a  perfectly 
waterproof  shelter.  The  roof  is  slanting.  There  is 
to  this  one  a  doorway,  but  no  door  and  no  window, 
though  both  of  these  could  be  readily  inserted.  A 
man  can  build  one  of  these  shacks  in  a  substantial 
manner  in  less  than  two  days.  It  will  last  several 
years,  and  with  a  door  and  window  in  place,  and  a 
stove  within,  he  can  keep  comfortable  during  the 
coldest  Florida  winter. 

'Tis  a  cheap  and  easily  constructed  shelter,  sufficient 
in  every  way  for  a  person  in  good  health.  With  such 
a  shack  by  the  side  of  some  stream  or  lake,  with  a 
gun,  fishing  tackle,  collecting  outfit  and  some  good 
books  to  while  away  an  occasional  hour,  methinks  a 
naturalist  could  spend  the  winter  in  Florida,  and  live 
a  free,  enjoyable  and  inexpensive  life. 

April  3,  1899. — To  the  Bennett  clearing,  near  the 
old  chimneys,  I  go  again,  in  search  of  some  form  of 
animal  life  unknown  to  me.  Nor  is  my  search  in 
vain,  for  I  find  a  locust  new  to  my  collection,  Paroxya 
atlantica  Scudd.,  a  slender-bodied,  wood  brown  spe- 
cies ;  known  from  the  other  members  of  the  genus  by 
the  short  antennae  of  the  male.  It  occurs  only  along 
the  Atlantic  coast  of  Georgia  and  Florida.  The  males 
are  active  leapers,  jumping  from  tuft  to  tuft  of  grass 
and  dodging  around  the  steins.  The  females  are 
much  larger  and  more  clumsy,  and  therefore  seldom 


CHAMELEONS  AND  "DOODLE-BVGS."         139 

leap  to  escape  capture,  but  attempt  to  hide  by  burrow- 
ing deep  down  between  the  stems. 

Chamseleons  are  more  frequent  in  this  clearing 
than  elsewhere  hereabouts.  Three  were  taken  from 
the  leaves  of  a  young  palmetto,  one  of  which  was  just 
moulting.  This  handsome  lizard  is  distributed  from 
the  Rio  Grande  to  North  Carolina.  It  is  also  com- 
mon in  the  Bahama  Islands  and  Cuba,  where  it 
reaches  a  larger  size  than  in  the  United  States.  Its 
principal  food  is  insects,  especially  flies  and  spiders. 
The  harder  shelled  beetles  and  locusts  it  does  not 
seem  to  fancy.  Mrs.  L.  M.  Wallace,  a  lady  living 
near  Orinond,  who  is  a  close  observer,  tells  me  that 
she  has  seen  the  chamseleon,  on  several  occasions,  fish 
for  "doodle-bugs"  or  the  young  of  the  ant-lion,  Myr- 
meleon  rusiicus  Hag.,  with  its  tail.  As  is  well  known, 
these  insects  construct  for  themselves  a  cone-shaped 


Fig.  45— Pit-fall  of  an  Ant  Lion. 

(After  Oomntock.) 


pit  in  the  sand  or  humus  of  an  old  log,  at  the  bottom 
of  which  they  hide,  and  wait  for  some  unwary  insect 
to  tumble  into  the  pit,  when  they  quickly  seize  and 
devour  it.  Mrs.  Wallace  states  that  the  chamseleon 


140  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

approaches  cautiously  the  pit,  and,  sticking  in  the  end 
of  its  tail,  wiggles  it  gently  to  and  fro.  The  "doodle- 
bug," thinking  it  an  insect,  seizes  the  end  of  the  tail 
in  its  large  jaws  and  is  immediately  whisked  out  and 
swallowed  by  the  ingenious  saurian  fisherman. 

Since  the  chamseleon  was  just  issuing  in  numbers 
from  its  winter  abiding  places  about  the  time  I  left 
Florida,  I  was  able  to  see  but  little  of  its  daily  life. 
As  it  is  known  to  many  northern  people  through 
specimens  brought  from  the  south  as  curiosities,  or  to 
be  senselessly  worn  as  ornaments  by  persons  who  wish 
to  call  attention  to  themselves,  and  know  no  better 
way  than  to  wear  a  live  lizard  on  their  bosom  or  cra- 
vat; I  incorporate  the  following  extracts  concerning 
its  habits.  Holbrook,  that  charming  writer  on  the 
characters  and  habits  of  our  reptiles,  says  of  it: 
"The  green  lizard,  Anolis  -carolinensis  Cuv.,  is  a  bold 
and  daring  animal,  haunting  outhouses  and  garden 
fences;  and  in  new  settlements  it  even  enters  the 
houses,  walking  over  the  tables  and  other  articles  of 
furniture  in  search  of  flies.  It  is  very  active,  climb- 
ing trees  with  great  rapidity,  and  leaping  with  ease 
from  branch  to  branch  or  from  tree  to  tree,  securing 
itself  even  on  the  leaves,  by  means  of  the  oval  disks 
of  the  fingers  and  toes,  which  enable  it  also  to  walk 
easily  on  glass,  and  on  the  sides  and  ceilings  of  rooms. 
It  feeds  on  insects,  and  destroys  great  numbers,  seiz- 
ing them  suddenly,  and  devouring  them,  unrestrained 
even  by  the  presence  of  man.  In  general  they  hiber- 


HABITS  OF  THE  CHAMELEON.  141 

nate  later  than  other  animals  of  the  same  class, 
their  favorite  retreats  being  gardens  and  old  build- 
ings; they  often  retire  to  greenhouses  or  conserva- 
tories, where  they  may  be  frequently  seen  active, 
even  in  winter,  but  never  of  that  rich  yellow-green 
as  in  the  summer  season.  In  the  spring  season  they 
are  extremely  quarrelsome;  two  males  seldom  meet 
without  a  furious  battle,  which  frequently  results  in 
the  loss  of  part  of  the  tail,  or  some  other  injury,  to 
one  or  both  of  the  combatants.  Before  the  contest, 
the  animal  usually  remains  stationary  for  a  moment, 
elevates  and  depresses  his  head  several  times,  inflates 
his  gular  sac,  which  now  becomes  of  a  bright  vermil- 
ion, and  then  suddenly  springs  at  his  enemy.  After 
the  first  heats  of  spring  have  passed,  they  become 
less  quarrelsome,  and  many  are  seen  quietly  living 
together  in  the  same  neighborhood;  they  retain  at 
all  times  the  habit  of  inflating  the  sac,  even  when 
quietly  basking  in  the  sun,  and  at  those  times  the 
coloring  of  the  animal  has  the  liquid  brilliancy  of  the 
emerald."* 

Dr.  R.  W.  Shuf  eldt  has  also  given  a  most  entertain- 
ing account  of  the  habits  of  this  handsome  lizard,  the 
closing  paragraph  of  which  I  quote:  "The  season 
approaches  when  Florida,  recovering  from  the  tempo- 
rary shock  caused  by  her  mock  winter,  again  puts 
forth  the  natural  jewels  of  her  animal  and  vegetable 
kingdoms,  again  presents  us  with  fresh  flowers  and 

*N.Am.Herp.,I,1836,  p.69. 


142  A  NATURE  WOOINQ. 

fresh  fields,  after  so  short  a  relapse.  Birds  once  more 
stream  northward,  mammals  throw  off  their  semi- 
torpidity  and  resume  their  usual  avocations.  In  the 
overflown  bayous,  rendered  almost  unendurable  by 
an  atmosphere  charged  with  all  the  aromatic  odors 
of  a  budding  southern  spring,  we  at  this  time,  too, 
see  the  gaudy  representatives  of  the  reptilian  world 
gradually  make  their  several  appearances.  Frogs 
croak,  Hylas  peep,  and  in  some  sunny  nook  the  dead- 
ly moccasin  warms  his  snuff-brown  coils,  alone, 
dreaded  and  shunned.  All  rejoice  that  this  happy 


Fig.  46—Cham8eleon. 

season  once  more  opens,  and  the  feeble  grasp  of  the 
winter  god  is  withdrawn.  Where  is  Anolis  now? 
We  have  not  far  to  go,  indeed,  to  find  our  bi-colored 
masquerader;  see  the  emerald-clad  scamp  as  he  eyes 
you  from  the  brawny  limb  of  the  pecan,  under  which 


COURTING  OF  THE  CHAMELEON.  143 

you  stand.  But  what  is  he  up  to?  You  quietly 
watch  him,  and  his  employment  seems  to  be  of  such 
a  nature  that  he  soon  completely  ignores  you,  and 
proceeds  with  it  at  all  risks,  and  at  all  costs.  The 
mystery  is  soon  solved,  and  we  can  readily  appreciate 
this  agitation,  this  bowing  and  strutting,  and  all  man- 
ner of  quaint  motions,  as  if  the  very  last  drop  of  his 
quaint  lacertilian  blood  was  on  fire — for  coyishly, 
and  in  all  due  deference,  reclines  before  his  lordship, 
his  chosen  mate,  exerting  all  her  chamseleonic  pow- 
ers to  hide  her  blushes  by  vain  endeavors  to  match  the 
colored  pattern  of  her  couch,  with  all  the  bronzes  and 
browns  at  her  command.  He  can  withstand  her 
charms  no  longer,  and  for  the  moment,  laying  aside 
all  dignity,  and  the  object  of  his  affections  not  un- 
willingly submitting,  in  the  next  instant  finds  herself 
in  the  passionate  embraces  of  her  lord,  who,  to  make 
sure  that  he  has  actually  won  his  coveted  prize,  winds 
about  her  lithe  form,  perhaps  in  some  mystic  love- 
knot,  his  entire  caudal  extremity,  and  blinds  her  eyes, 
first  on  one  side  and  then  on  the  other,  by  the  ex- 
tension of  the  flaming  ornament  at  his  throat."* 

The  owner  of  the  clearing,  who  is  plowing  potatoes 
as  I  catch  bugs  and  lizards,  informs  me  that  an  alli- 
gator, four  feet  in  length,  was  killed  by  the  train  on 
yesterday.  It  had  crawled  upon  the  trestle  across 
Thompson's  Creek,  a  half  mile  northwest  from  Or- 

*American  Naturalist,  XVII,  1883,  p.  925. 


144  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

mond,  to  bask  in  the  sun,  and  failed  to  get  off  in  time 
to  avoid  the  locomotive. 

He  also  states  that  a  friend  of  his  who  is  a  hunter 
in  the  Everglades  of  South  Florida,  made  $110  in 
one  day  in  1897  by  shooting  egrets  on  their  nests  in 
order  to  secure  the  skins  and  plumes  for  millinery 
purposes.  It  was  a  wanton  slaughter  of  innocent 
birds  to  satisfy  the  vanity  of  woman.  Two  species 
of  egrets,  or  white  herons,  were,  ten  years  ago,  very 
common  during  the  migratory  seasons  in  Indiana. 
Now,  but  one  or  two  are  noted  each  season.  The 
murderous  work  done  for  hire  by  these  southern  pot- 
hunters is  alone  responsible  for  their  scarcity;  yet 
back  of  it  all  is  the  demand  of  fashion,  the  vanity  of 
the  fairer  sex  of  that  higher  animal — man. 

April  4,  1899. — This  morning  the  sun  is  hidden 
behind  a  veil  of  clouds,  which  occasionally  yield  up  a 
few  drops  of  their  component  moisture.  The  temper- 
ature is  mild — about  60°.  I  make  my  way  out  past 
Soudan,  that  portion  of  Ormond  devoted  to  "Darkest 
Africa/7  to  the  hammocks  beyond.  Just  above  the 
darkey  cabins  I  step  upon  a  snake  and  involuntarily 
jump  back.  It  is  a  long,  slender,  black  reptile,  which, 
after  crawling  slowly  a  few  paces,  stops  and  gazes  up 
at  me.  As  I  approach  cautiously,  it  starts  off  more 
rapidly  and  I  bring  one  foot  down  upon  its  body;  a 
little  too  far  back,  however,  to  prevent  its  striking 
savagely  at  my  insect  net  which  I  thrust  between  it 
and  my  knee.  I  soon  get  a  firm  hold  on  it  just  back 


SOME  FLORIDA  SNAKES.  145 

of  the  head  and  hold  it  up  as  it  squirms  and  writhes, 
for  a  closer  view.  It  is  evidently  a  slender  form  of 
the  common,  harmless  black  snake,  Bascanion  con- 
strictor L.  I  wish  to  compare  it  more  critically  with 
northern  forms,  and  so  place  it  in  the  only  receptacle 
which  I  have  at  hand,  a  tin  box,  which  it  fills  to  the 
brim.  Reptiles,  especially  snakes,  have  been  so 
scarce  heretofore  that  I  have  quit  carrying  the  strong 
muslin  bag  in  which  I  usually  place  such  forms. 
Thinking  it  may,  by  writhing,  force  open  the  lid  of 
the  box,  I  search  my  pockets  for  a  string,  but  that, 
too,  is  lacking,  so  I  retrace  my  steps  to  the  nearest 
cabin  in  quest  of  one.  Three  negro  men  are  in  the 
yard.  One,  old,  fleshy  and  voluble  of  speech,  imme- 
diately I  make  my  desire  known,  begins  to  talk  of 
snakes.  He  affirms  that  the  one  with  red  and  black 
rings,  a  species  of  Elaps  which  I  have  been  told  is 
frequent  about  here,  has  a  stinger  in  the  end  of  its 
tail  which  it  uses  as  a  defensive  organ.  I  do  not  open- 
ly deny  his  statement,  but  he  is  certainty  mistaken. 
He  and  his  companions  seem  to  know  but  four  or 
five  species  of  snakes,  viz.,  the  Elaps  mentioned,  the 
striped  garter  snake,  the  black  snake  which  I  show 
them,  the  spreading  viper  or  "spotted  addah"  and  the 
rattlesnake.  According  to  their  belief  the  bite  of  all 
of  these  is  "sho'  nuif  death/7  except  that  of  the  black 
and  garter  snakes.  In  reality,  the  bite  of  but  one, 
the  diamond  rattlesnake,  is  known  to  be  venomous, 
though  that  of  the  Elaps  is  so  reputed.  I  finally 

10 


146  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

obtain  a  piece  of  cotton  string  to  tie  my  box  and  then 
resume  my  outing. 

A  pack  of  pickaninnies  followed  after  me  and 
watched  me  searching  for  insects.  I  showed  them 
the  snake  and  told  them  I  would  pay  them  for  such 
snakes  as  I  do  not  have.  The  youngest  of  them 
glanced  askance  at  me  and  asked :  "Mistah,  what  duz 
you-all  want  'em  foh  ?"  "To  make  soup/7  I  replied. 
He  turned  to  his  older  companions  in  open-eyed 
amazement.  He  was  speechless  even.  Snake  soup 
was  to  him  an  unthought-of ,  unheard-of  delicacy.  He 
may  to-night  dream  of  a  pot  of  hissing  serpents,  rais- 
ing their  heads  at  intervals  above  the  top,  glaring  at 
him  and  darting  forth  their  tongues,  while  their  bod- 
ies and  tails  writhe  and  sizzle  in  the  water  beneath. 

A  happy-go-lucky  race,  these  Florida  negroes; 
content  with  shelter  crude,  with  corn  pone  and  sirup, 
with  a  few  clothes  to  cover  their  nakedness.  Their 
children  are  legion,  the  ties  of  marriage  being  but 
loosely  observed.  For  the  most  part  illiterate,  one 
day,  to  them,  is  as  another.  "Sufficient  unto  the  day 
is  the  evil  thereof,"  would  doubtless  be  their  motto 
did  they  know  its  meaning.  Free  from  ambition, 
knowing  little  of  the  great  world  beyond  and  caring 
less,  they  shuffle  through  life  content  with  their  lot ; 
dwelling  here  'neath  the  sunny  skies  and  balmy  airs 
in  a  land  which  seemingly  was  formed  for  such  as 
they. 


A  HANDSOME  THISTLE.  147 

By  the  side  of  the  railway  I  find  a  second  specimen 
of  the  thistle,  Carduus  horridulus  Pursh.  It  belies 
its  name,  for  it  is  a  most  handsome  plant.  Its  stem, 
has,  in  the  past,  been  cut  off  about  two  feet  above 
the  ground.  From  just  below  the  cut  a  dozen  or  more 
flower  stalks  have  grown  upward  for  eighteen  inches 
in  umbel-like  fashion.  Each  of  these  stalks  bears  a 
single  large  flower  or  bud.  The  flowers  are  two 
inches  or  more  across  when  fully  expanded.  Each  is 
sub-tended  by  a  double  circle  of  long,  slender  bracts, 
which  curve  upward  and  form  an  urn-like  involucre 
in  which  the  blossom  rests.  These  bracts  bear  a  dou- 
ble row  of  purple  spines  along  their  margins  and  each 
is  tipped  with  a  similarly  colored  long  and  slender 
spine.  The  uppermost  leaves  are  opposite,  bract-like, 
and  also  armed  on  the  margins  with  handsome  purple 
spines.  The  flower  itself  is  a  charming  rose  purple  in 
hue.  'Tis  handsome  enough  to  grace  a  queen's  table, 
yet  it  blooms  here  in  the  gutter  by  the  railway,  un- 
noticed and  unknown.  Why  should  not  such  a  plant 
be  tended  in  a  hothouse,  given  a  high  sounding  name, 
and  sold  for  a  fabulous  sum?  Were  it  not  for  its 
prickly  armor  such  might  be  its  fortune. 

On  one  of  its  blossoms  I  find  a  single  specimen  of 
a  pretty  Chrysomelid  beetle,  Lema  ephippiata  Lac., 
one-third  of  an  inch  in  length,  red  except  the  elytra, 
which  are  steel  blue;  and  the  antennae  and  tibiae,, 
which  are  dark  brown.  The  blossoms  also  bear  two 
specimens  of  a  grayish-brown  hemipteron,  Margus 


148  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

inornatus  Stal,  which  has  not  before  been  recorded 
north  of  Mexico. 

April  5,  1899. — Once  more,  and  for  the  last  time 
this  season,  if  not  forever,  I  sit  on  the  Tomoka's  bank. 
Its  waters  are  still  as  dark,  as  deep,  as  slow  flowing  as 
ever.  Their  surface  is  not,  however,  so  placid  as 
when  I  saw  it  last,  but  is  broken  by  great  waves,  en- 
gendered by  the  strong  northeast  wind,  which,  for  six- 
teen hours,  has  been  blowing,  raging,  seething.  A 
great  vacuum  has  been  formed  somewhere  to  the 
southwest.  Toward  it  the  air  from  the  northeast  has 
rushed  with  a  mighty  roar,  a  part  of  the  time  at  the 
rate  of  sixty  miles  an  hour.  All  night  the  pines  bent 
before  its  blast.  All  night  they  creaked  and  groaned. 
The  dwelling  in  which  I  essayed  to  sleep  at  times 
rocked  like  a  cradle.  Windows  rattled  incessantly; 
shutters  blew  to  and  fro,  yet  the  morning  broke  with 
the  sun  smiling  as  ever  at  the  work  he  had  wrought — 
for  his  unequal  heating  had  caused  the  vacuum.  I 
have  seen  but  few  forms  of  animal  life  on  my  way 
hither  this  morning.  They  have  taken  shelter,  as  I  do 
now,  from  the  fury  of  the  blasts. 

A  great  pileated  woodpecker  hopped  backward  a 
foot  or  two  down  a  dead  pine,  paused  and  listened, 
then  repeated  the  process  until  he  reached  the 
ground.  Upward  he  starts  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
tree.  Peering  around  the  side  he  espies  me,  and  long 
and  earnestly  he  gazes.  Finally  flapping  his  wings,  he 
is  away  to  another  snag  a  hundred  yards  distant.  O, 


THE  PILEATED  WOODPECKER.  149 

king  of  birds  hereabouts,  thou  needst  have  no  fear  on 
my  account !  I  am  not  thine  enemy,  only  thy  rival. 
Beneath  the  bark  and  rotten  wood  of  trees  I,  too, 
seek  insects.  Thou  lookest  principally  after  the  lar- 
val forms,  I  after  the  mature.  Thou  seekest  them 
for  sustenance,  I  for  pastime.  If  thou  wert  only 
willing,  together  we  might  work,  in  peace  and  har- 
mony, on  the  same  snag  at  the  same  time.  I  could 
watch  the  movements  of  thy  powerful  bill  as  it  sank 
deep  into  the  decaying  wood,  and  could  in  turn  pull 
off  with  my  implement  of  search,  my  good  right  arm, 
great  pieces  of  the  loose  bark  and  unfold  to  thy  gaze 
many  a  white  ant,  many  a  fat  grub.  But  thou  wiliest 
otherwise  and  lookest  upon  me  as  an  enemy.  Far  be 
it  from  my  mind  to  do  thee  harm.  I  only  wish  thee 
success  in  finding  many  a  grub  for  thy  morning's 
meal,  even  if  by  so  doing  thou  shalt  lessen  the  num- 
ber of  mature  beetles  which  will,  perchance,  fall  to 
my  share  in  future  days. 

I  note  where  an  oak  has  thrust  its  tap  root  through 
a  layer  of  the  coquina  rock,  three  feet  in  thickness. 
The  root,  now  decayed,  is  eight  inches  in  diameter. 
Perchance  a  worm  hole  first  gave  lodgement  to  the 
tiny  rootlet  of  the  sprouting  acorn. 

The  first  mature^  males  of  the  slender-bodied,  gray- 
ish-brown locust,  Rhadinotatum  brevipenne  Thos., 
were  seen  on  March  22nd.  To-day  the  mature  females 
are  abundant.  It  is  the  most  curious  Orthopteran 
found  here  at  this  season.  The  body  is  very  slender 


150  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

and  compressed ;  that  of  the  males  one  and  a  quarter 
inches  in  length;  of  the  females  nearly  two  inches. 
The  head  is  long  and  projects  upward  in  the  form  of 
a  pyramid,  the  face  being  extremely  sloping.  The 
antennae  are  flat  and  broad  at  base  and  taper 
towards  the  apex.  The  tegmina,  or  outer  wings,  are 
very  short  and  narrow,  their  maximum  length  being 
but  about  one-fifth  of  an  inch.  This  locust  has  been 
recorded  only  from  one  or  two  points  in  Florida. 
Here  it  is  common  on  the  clumps  of  wire  grass,  in 
sandy  places  along  the  edges  of  woodland  paths  and 
old  fields.  Its  short  wings  prevent  it  from  flying,  and 
as  it  is  but  a  poor  leaper,  it  is  readily  taken  with  the 
fingers.  It  relies  upon  protective  mimicry  as  its  chief 
mode  of  defense;  hence  its  organs  of  locomotion, 
wings  and  legs,  have  developed  but  little,  the  former 
being  mere  pads,  the  latter  very  slender  and  used 
mainly  for  walking  and  for  clasping  the  stems  of 
grass.  The  brown,  linear  body,  when  extended 
lengthwise  along  a  dead  grass  stem  is  scarcely  notice- 
able, so  closely  does  its  hue  correspond  to  that  of  the 
grass.  The  insect  remains  motionless  until  about  to 
be  seized,  when  it  sometimes  gives  a  short  leap  to  one 
side. 

The  number  of  colonies  of  the  young  of  the  lubber 
grasshopper,  Dictyophorus  reticulaius  Thunb.,  has 
greatly  increased  during  the  past  week,  and  some  of 
the  earlier  ones  hatched  are  past  the  third  moult. 
Usually  fifty  to  seventy-five  of  the  young  are  on  a 


THE  LUBBER  GRASSHOPPER.  151 

single  weed  or  bunch  of  grass,  whose  leaves  they 
wholly  devour.  They  are  a  greenish  black  in  color 
with  a  narrow  stripe  along  the  back  of  orange  or 
blood  red.  The  sides  of  head  and  hind  edge  of  thorax 
are  also  of  the  brighter  color.  One  colony,  noted 
near  the  Tomoka  cabin,  was  an  uniform  reddish 
brown  instead  of  black  and  red.  It  may  have  been 
composed  of  the  young  of  an  allied  species,  D.  marci 
Serv.  The  young  of  the  lubber  locust  are  wholly 


Fig.  47— Lubber  Grasshopper. 

DictyopAortw  reticvlatus  Thnnb. 

(Mature  female.) 


wingless  and  very  clumsy,  crawling  feebly  over  the 
ground  when  knocked  off  the  plant  to  which  they  are 
clinging.  They  are  said  to  have  no  known  natural 
enemies,  being  so  nauseating  that  even  chickens  re- 
ject them  as  food.  They  occur  throughout  the  Gulf 
States  and  as  far  north  as  Chattanooga,  Tennessee, 
and  occasionally  do  much  damage  by  feeding  upon 
the  leaves  of  vegetables  and  orange  trees. 


152  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

When  mature  they  reach  a  length  of  nearly  three 
inches  and  are  correspondingly  robust.  They  are 
then  of  a  yellow  or  orange  color,  barred  and  spotted 
with  black.  The  outer  wings  cover  little  more  than 
half  the  abdomen  and  are  quite  showy,  being  yellow- 
ish spotted  with  black  above,  while  the  sides  are  rose 
pink.  They  become  full  grown  in  May. 

On  the  way  home  I  observed  a  dragonfly,  Pachy- 
diplax  longipennis  Burm.,  fluttering  on  the  ground. 
Investigation  showed  that  a  robber  fly,  Proctacanthus 
philadelpliicus  Macq.,  had  seized  it  just  back  of  the 
head  and  was  holding  on  with  a  death-like  grip,  its 
beak  or  tongue  being  deeply  imbedded  in  the  front 
of  the  thorax  of  the  dragonfly.  The  captor  was  less 
than  one-fourth  the  size  of  its  victim,  and  was  prob- 
ably sucking  the  latter's  blood  on  the  spot,  as  it  was 
plainly  too  large  to  be  carried  away. 

Where  the  railway  runs  between  two  marshes  I 
found  between  its  rails  on  my  way  homeward  several 
dead  specimens  of  Bauer's  box  turtle,  Kinosternon 
baurii  Garm.  They  had  evidently  attempted  to  cross 
the  railway  from  one  marsh  to  another  and  had  got- 
ten between  the  rails,  but  could  not  get  over  them. 
They  did  not  appear  to  have  been  injured  by  the 
trains,  and  had  probably  died  from  lack  of  water. 

This  is  the  most  northern  point  from  which  this 
turtle  has  been  recorded.  It  differs  from  K.  penn- 
sylvanicum  Grmelin,  also  found  here  and  ranging 
north  to  northwestern  Indiana,  by  the  greater  develop- 


OLD  OCEANS  WATERS.  153 

ment  of  the  plates  of  the  plastron,  and  by  the  pres- 
ence of  two  yellow  lines  on  each  side  of  the  head  and 
three  pale,  lengthwise  bands  on  the  carapace.  It  can 
close  its  shell  more  completely,  than  can  its  close  ally, 
the  better  known  mud  turtle.  A  live  specimen  of  K* 
liaurii,  taken  later,  measured  four  inches  in  length  by 
nearly  three  in  breadth. 

April  6,  1899. — To-day  I  make  my  last  trip  along 
the  sea  beach.  Old  ocean  is  on  a  rampage  after  the 
wind  storm  of  yesterday.  The  surging  waves  strike 
the  sands  far  out,  then  tumble  and  toss  in  a  mad  race 
for  the  shore.  ]STo  human  agency  can  bar  their  action 
—their  onward  coming.  It  is  a  power  beyond  control 
of  man  which  brings  them  on.  It  is  hard  to  realize 
that  three-fourths  of  the  surface  of  the  earth  is  cov- 
ered with  this  surging,  rolling,  ever-moving  mass  of 
waters.  Great  monsters  are  begotten,  are  born,  live, 
move  and  die  within  their  midst,  possibly  without 
ever  catching  a  sight  of  land.  They  are  the  home  of 
myriads  of  forms  of  life,  untold  myriads  of  individ- 
uals. Thousands  of  humans  each  year  find  a  final 
resting  place  within  their  depths. 

As  the  waves  strike  the  edge  of  the  shore  they  lose 
their  turbulency,  roll  for  a  distance  on  the  sands,  then 
die  content.  'Tis  like  the  mad  race  of  men  for  some 
goal  where  they  expect  to  find  honor,  wealth  and  hap- 
piness. They  toil,  they  struggle,  they  surge,  they 
beat  over  and  around  one  another.  Some  of  them 
finally  reach  what  they  are  striving  after  and  often- 


154  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

times  find  it  worthless — lacking  honor,  and  especially 
lacking  happiness.  "We  are  never  happy;  we  only 
know  that  we  were  so  once." 

As  I  come  out  of  the  narrow  path,  which  leads 
through  the  mazes  of  saw  palmetto  at  the  point  where 
I  crossed  the  peninsula,  and  get  my  first  glimpse  of 
the  ocean,  I  see  an  osprey  dive  down,  struggle  in  the 
water  an  instant,  then  rise  triumphantly  upward  with 
a  large  fish  in  his  talons.  Far  inland  he  flies,  bearing 
his  prey  to  his  mate  on  her  nest,  or  perhaps  to  some 
eyrie  on  tall  dead  tree  where  he  can  devour  it  in  soli- 
tude unmolested  by  eagle  or  other  enemy. 

Over  the  mainland  I  note  the  "Bird  of  Freedom," 
a  magnificent  bald  eagle,  slowly  soaring.  The  sun- 
light glints  from  his  white  head  and  tail.  He  has 
evidently  been  on  the  watch  for  the 
fish  hawk,  but  has  missed  him.  A 
robber  baron  he,  who  gets  his  living 
mainly  by  preying  upon  his  weaker 
brethren,  seldom  by  honest  bird  labor. 
The  pathway  has,  in  places,  been  cut 
through  the  sand  ridges  of  the  penin- 
sula and  a  board  walk  put  down.  Be- 
neath  one  of  the  loose  boards  of  this 

subsulcatus  Sajr. 

walk  I  find  a  small  whip  scorpion  or 
vinegerone,  its  jointed  telson  turned  up  over  its  back. 
Two  feet  from  it  are  four  specimens  of  a  medium 
sized  carabid  beetle,  Pasimachus  subsulcatus  Say. 
It  is  shining  black  and  four-fifths  of  an  inch  in 


SOME  FLORIDA  BUTTERFLIES.  155 

length.  These  beetles  and  the  whip  scorpion  are  the 
only  rewards  of  a  half  hour's  search  along  this  path- 
way, the  sand  yielding  little  nourishment  to  attract 
living  forms. 

In  the  garden  and  orchard  adjoining  an  old  dwell- 
ing on  the  river  side  of  the  peninsula  butterflies  are 
plentiful.  Among  them  are  two  old  friends  whom 


Fig.  49— The  Painted  Beauty. 

(After  Harris.) 
(The  under  side  of  wing  ia  shown  on  the  right.) 

I  first  met  fifteen  years  ago  in  Indiana,  viz.,  the 
painted  beauty,  Pyrameis  hunter  a  Fab.,  which  ranges 
from  Nova  Scotia  to  Mexico;  and  the  silver-spotted 
skipper,  Eudamus  tityrus  Fab.,  also  a  form  of  ex- 
tended range.  The  latter  are  flitting  in  numbers 
about  the  showy  purple  blossoms  of  the  large  flower- 
ing verbena,  V.  auhletia.  Here  also  I  take  a  single 
specimen  of  Pamphila  maculata  Edw.,  a  dark  brown 
skipper,  with  wing  expanse  of  one  and  a  half  inches, 
whose  range  is  confined  to  the  Gulf  states.  Several 


156 


A  NATURE  WOOING. 


Fig.  50— The  Silver  Spot. 

Ktidamus  tityrus  Fab. 
(The  under  side  of  wing  is  shown  on  the  left.) 


examples  of  the  "little  metal  mark/7  Calephelis 
ccenius  L.,  the  smallest  butterfly  I  have  seen  in  Flor- 
ida, are  noted  in  this  garden,  though  but  one  is  cap- 
tured. It  expands 
but  three-quarters 
of  an  inch.  The 
upper  surface  of 
the  wings  is  of  a 
rust  red  hue, 
crossed  by  four  or 
five  narrow,  wavy 
black  lines.  The 
under  side  is  yel- 
low fulvous,  with 
numerous  dark 

metallic  lines  and  spots.  It,  also,  is  confined  to  the 
southern  states,  and  frequents  the  wild  flowers  which 
are  in  blossom  from  April  to  July. 

The  little  peeper  or  cricket  frog,  Acris  gryllus  Le- 
Conte,  is  an  abundant  resident  along  the  borders  of 
the  Halifax  and  in  the  weedy  and  marshy  inlets 
which   are   connected  with 
it.      The   skin  is   smoother 
and  the  bars  on  the  hind 
femora    are    more    distinct 
than  in  the  northern  form, 
A.  crepitans  of  Baird.    The 
habits  of  A.  gryllus  are  the 

,  i  f     A  Fig.  51— Southern  Cricket  Frog. 

same  as  those  of  A.  crep-  Acris  grj/Uus  Lec. 


THE  SOUTHERN  CRICKET  FROG.  157 

itans  in  the  north,  which  have  been  described  by  Dr. 
O.  P.  Hay  as  follows : 

"The  cricket  frog  is  not  thoroughly  aquatic,  but 
delights  to  spend  its  time  amid  the  vegetation  about 
the  border  of  the  water.  When  frightened  it  will 
leap  into  the  water,  but  it  often  appears  to  become 
alarmed  at  its  rashness  and  hastens  to  reach  the  land 
again.  When  followed  up,  however,  it  will  go  to  the 
bottom  and  seek  to  conceal  itself  for  a  while.  Though 
belonging  to  the  'tree  frogs/  it  never  ascends  trees, 
and  probably  climbs  only  the  shorter  grasses  and 
water  plants.  It  is  a  cheerful  little  creature,  and  on 
warm  days  may  constantly  be  heard  executing  its 
noisy  song.  This  resembles  closely  the  striking  to- 
gether rapidly  of  two  pebbles,  and  often,  when  their 
singing  has  been  interrupted  by  the  passer-by,  it  may 
be  started  again  by  clicking  two  stones  sharply  to- 
gether."* 

Holbrook  has  written  of  the  southern  form,  A. 
gryllus:  "This  is  a  merry  little  frog,  constantly 
chirping  like  a  cricket,  even  in  confinement;  it  fre- 
quents the  borders  of  stagnant  pools,  and  is  often 
found  on  the  leaves  of  aquatic  plants,  and  rarely  on 
the  branches  of  such  low  shrubs  as  overhang  or  dip 
in  the  water.  It  feeds  on  various  kinds  of  insects, 
and  makes  immense  leaps  to  secure  its  prey,  or  to 
escape  its  pursuers.  It  can  easily  be  domesticated, 
and  takes  its  food  readily  from  the  hand ;  I  have  kept 

*  Batrachians  and  Reptiles  of  Indiana,  1891,  p.  462. 


158  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

several  for  months  in  a  glass  globe  on  a  few  sprigs 
of  purslain,  Portulaca  oleracea  L.  Their  chirp,  at 
times,  was  incessant,  and  sprinkling  them  with  water 
never  failed  to  render  them  more  lively  and  noisy."* 

April  7,  1899. — This  morning,  'neath  cloudy, 
threatening  skies,  I  made  my  way  to  the  clearing  near 
the  old  chimneys.  No  sooner  had  I  arrived  there 
than  the  threatened  deluge  began.  It  was  a  veritable 
Florida  downpour,  which  lasted  three  hours.  I  took 
shelter  in  the  shack  of  palmetto  leaves  which  I  have 
before  mentioned  and  found  it  perfectly  water-proof. 
The  two  natives  who  had  been  working  in  the  clear- 
ing were  sheltered  with  me  and  we  talked  of  many 
of  the  animals  and  birds  which  inhabit  this  region. 

They  affirmed  that  the  ivory-billed  woodpecker,, 
Campephilus  principals  L.,  is  still  rather  common 
in  the  heavy  timbered  hammocks,  several  miles  back 
from  the  railway;  also  that  the  Carolina  paroquet, 
Conurus  carolimnsis  L.,  was  common  about  Ormond 
until  1887,  and  that  it  is  still  abundant  in  the  ever- 
glades and  the  more  primitive  portions  of  southern 
Florida.  Both  these  birds  were  once  common  in  In- 
diana, but  long  since  disappeared  from  that  State, 
retreating  before  the  advancing  civilization  of  the 
white  man  to  the  deepest  recesses  of  these  southern 
forests. 

The  black  or  brown  bear,  Ursus  americanus 
Pallas,  is  still  occasionally  seen.  Seven  or  eight  were 

*  North  American  Herpetology,  III,  1838,  76. 


BEARS  AND  ALLIGATORS.  159 

killed  within  a  half  dozen  miles  of  Ormond  during 
the  past  winter.  I  myself  have  seen  the  tracks  of  one 
crossing  the  roadway,  and  have  noted  where  another 
has  clawed  open  the  nest  of  a  ground  bee  in  search 
of  honey.  Bennett,  one  of  the  natives,  says  that  the 
bears  kill  the  hogs  in  the  winter  time,  when  other 
food  is  scarce,  and  drive  them  out  of  the  hammocks. 

The  Virginia  deer,  Qariacus  virginianus  Bodd., 
are  frequent,  and  many  are  killed  in  season.  Wild 
turkeys  are  becoming  scarce  near  the  settlements  and 
good  ones  bring  $1.00  to  $1.25  in  the  market.  Both 
otter  and  mink  are  rather  common  along  Thompson's 
creek  and  the  Toinoka.  Raccoons  are  also  plentiful. 
However,  the  skins  of  these  animals  bring  much  less 
than  in  the  northern  states,  where  the  fur  on  them  is 
far  better  in  quality. 

The  taking  of  alligator  skins  at  one  time  furnished 
quite  a  revenue  to  the  natives  of  this  portion  of  Flor- 
ida. Their  numbers  have  diminished  greatly  in  re- 
cent years,  and  the  former  "gator  hunter"  now  has  to 
look  to  other  sources  for  most  of  his  income.  The 
greater  number  of  those  now  killed  are  taken  in  sum- 
mer in  the  swamps  and  wet  hammocks  after  the  water 
has  receded.  Only  the  skin  of  the  lower  or  under  por- 
tion of  the  body  is  saved.  This  is  salted,  rolled  up  and 
put  into  a  barrel.  As  soon  as  the  barrel  is  full  it  is 
taken  to  some  railway  station  or  steamer  landing  for 
shipment.  The  skins  bring,  on  an  average,  but  about 
$1.00  each. 


160  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

The  eggs  of  the  alligator  are  laid  in  large  conical 
nests  composed  of  mud,  twigs  and  leaves.  They  hatch 
in  May  or  June,  and  the  young,  when  a  year  old,  are 
about  a  foot  in  length.  Bartram,  who  spent  many 
months  in  this  state  at  a  time  when  these  saurians 
were  present  by  thousands,  and  before  their  habits 
had  become  changed  by  the  presence  of  a  horde  of 
sportsmen  intent  upon  their  destruction,  wrote  of 
them  as  follows:  "On  turning  a  point  or  projection 
of  the  river  bank,  at  once  I  beheld  a  great  number  of 
hillocks  or  small  pyramids,  resembling  hay-cocks, 
ranged  like  an  encampment  along  the  banks.  They 
stood  fifteen  or  twenty  yards  distant  from  the  water, 
on  a  high  marsh,  about  four  feet  perpendicular  above 
the  water.  I  knew  them  to  be  the  nests  of  the  alli- 
gator, having  had  a  description  of  them  before;  and 
now  expected  a  furious  and  general  attack,  as  I  saw 
several  large  alligators  swimming  abreast  of  these 
buildings.  These  nests  being  so  great  a  curiosity  to 
me,  I  was  determined  at  all  events  immediately  to 
land  and  examine  them.  Accordingly,  I  ran  my  bark 
on  shore  at  one  of  their  landing  places,  which  was  a 
sort  of  nick  or  little  dock,  from  which  ascended  a 
sloping  path  or  road  up  to  the  edge  of  the  meadow, 
where  their  nests  were ;  most  of  them  were  deserted, 
and  the  great  thick,  whitish  egg-shells  lay  broken  and 
scattered  upon  the  ground  round  about  them. 

"The  nests  or  hillocks  are  of  the  form  of  an  obtuse 
cone,  four  feet  high  and  four  or  five  feet  in  diameter 


NESTS  OF  THE  ALLIGATOR.  161 

at  their  bases ;  they  are  constructed  with  mud,  grass 
and  herbage.  At  first  they  lay  a  floor  of  this  kind 
of  tempered  mortar  on  the  ground,  upon  which  they 
deposit  a  layer  of  eggs,  and  upon  this  a  stratum  of 
mortar,  seven  or  eight  inches  in  thickness,  and  then 
another  layer  of  eggs,  and  in  this  manner  one  stratum 
upon  another,  nearly  to  the  top.  I  believe  they  com- 
monly lay  from  one  to  two  hundred  eggs  in  a  nest; 
these  are  hatched,  I  suppose,  by  the  heat  of  the  sun ; 
and  perhaps  the  vegetable  substances  mixed  with  the 
earth,  being  acted  upon  by  the  sun,  may  cause  a  small 
degree  of  fermentation,  and  so  increase  the  heat  in 
those  hillocks.  The  ground  for  several  acres  about 
these  nests  showed  evident  marks  of  a  continual  resort 
of  alligators ;  the  grass  was  everywhere  beaten  down, 
hardly  a  blade  or  straw  was  left  standing;  whereas 
all  about,  at  a  distance,  it  was  five  or  six  feet  high, 
and  as  thick  as  it  could  grow  together. 

aThe  female,  as  I  imagine,  carefully  watches  her 
own  nest  of  eggs  until  they  are  all  hatched,  or  per- 
haps while  she  is  attending  to  her  own  brood  she 
takes  under  her  care  and  protection  as  many  as  she 
can  get  at  one  time,  either  from  her  own  particular 
nest  or  others ;  but  certain  it  is,  that  the  young  are  not 
left  to  shift  for  themselves,  for  I  have  had  frequent 
opportunities  of  seeing  the  female  alligator  leading 
about  the  shores  her  train  of  young  ones,  just  as  a 
hen  does  her  brood  of  chickens ;  and  she  is  equally  as- 
siduous and  courageous  in  defending  the  young, 

11 


162  A  NATURE  WOOIKO. 

which  are  under  her  care,  and  providing  for  their 
subsisten.ce,  and  when  she  is  basking  upon  the  warm 
banks  with  her  brood  around  her  you  may  hear  the 
young  ones  continually  whining  and  barking,  like 
younp'  puppies.  I  believe  but  few  of  a  brood  live  to 
the  years  of  full  growth  and  magnitude,  as  the  old 
feed  on  the  young  as  long  as  they  can  make  prey  of 
them. 

"The  alligator  when  full  grown  is  a  very  large  and 
terrible  creature  and  of  prodigious  strength,  activity 
and  swiftness  in  the  water?  I  have  seen  them  twenty 
feet  in  length,  and  some  are  supposed  to  be  twenty- 
two  or  twenty-three  feet.  Their  body  is  as  large  as 
that  of  a  horse ;  their  shape  exactly  resembles  that  of 
a  lizard,  except  their  tail,  which  is  flat  or  cuneiform, 
being  compressed  on  each  side  and  gradually  diminish- 
ing from  the  abdomen  to  the  extremity,  which,  with 
the  whole  body,  is  covered  with  horny  plates  or 
squammse,  impenetrable  when  on  the  body  of  the  live 
animal,  even  to  a  rifle-ball,  except  about  their  head 
and  just  behind  their  forelegs  or  arms,  where  it  is  said 
they  are  only  vulnerable.  The  head  of  a  full-grown 
one  is  about  three  feet,  and  the  mouth  opens  nearly 
the  same  length;  their  eyes  are  small  in  proportion 
and  seem  sunk  deep  in  the  head,  by  means  of  the 
prominency  of  the  brows;  the  nostrils  are  large,  in- 
flated and  prominent  on  the  top,  so  that  the  head  in 
the  water  resembles,  at  a  distance,  a  great  chunk  of 
wood  floating  about.  Only  the  upper  jaw  moves, 


NOISES  MADE  BY  ALLIGATORS.  163 

which  they  raise  almost  perpendicular,  so  as  to  form 
a  right  angle  with  the  lower  one.  In  the  fore  part  of 
the  upper  jaw,  on  each  side,  just  under  the  nostrils, 
are  two  very  large,  thick,  strong  teeth  or  tusks,  not 
very  sharp,  but  rather  the  shape  of  a  cone;  these  are 
as  white  as  the  finest  polished  ivory,  and  are  not  cov- 
ered by  any  skin  or  lips,  and  always  in  sight,  which 
gives  the  creature  a  frightful  appearance.  In  the 
lower  jaw  are  holes  opposite  to  these  teeth,  to  re- 
ceive them.  When  they  clap  their  jaws  together  it 
causes  a  surprising  noise,  like  that  which  is  made  by 
forcing  a  heavy  plank  with  violence  upon  the  ground, 
and  may  be  heard  at  a  great  distance. 

"But  what  is  more  surprising  to  a  stranger  is  the  in- 
credible loud  and  terrifying  roar  which  they  are 
capable  of  making,  especially  in  the  spring  season, 
their  breeding  time.  It  most  resembles  very  heavy 
distant  thunder,  not  only  shaking  the  air  and  waters, 
but  causing  the  earth  to  tremble ;  and  when  hundreds 
and  thousands  are  roaring  at  the  same  time,  you  can 
scarcely  be  persuaded  but  that  the  whole  globe  is  vio- 
lently and  dangerously  agitated."* 

The  hogs  belonging  to  the  natives  of  this  portion  of 
Florida  are  marked  and  then  allowed  to  run  wild. 
They  feed  on  pine  nuts  and  other  mast ;  on  roots  and 
on  many  forms  of  animal  life,  as  water-dogs,  mud 
eels,  mollusks,  etc.,  found  about  the  wet  hammocks. 
All  cultivated  land  is,  therefore,  of  necessity,  fenced. 

*  Travels  in  N.  America,  1793,  pp.  124  et.  seq. 


164  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

Whenever  "pork  hungry/7  as  Bennett  put  it,  the  hogs 
are  rounded  up  with  dogs  and  killed. 

April  8j  1899. — This  morn  I  hired  a  darkey  and 
spent  the  day  excavating  in  the  shell  mound,  taking 
measurements,  etc.  This  mound  is  but  one  of  many 
which  are  scattered  here  and  there  over  the  entire 
Floridian  peninsula.  For  the  most  part  they  are 
along  the  borders  of  the  larger  inland  streams  and 
lakes,  though  a  number,  like  the  one  at  Ormond,  are 
located  near  the  sea.  I  had  no  opportunity  of  explor- 
ing any  of  the  inland  mounds,  though  I  heard  of  a 
number  on  my  trip  up  the  St.  John's  River.  Prof. 
Jeffries  Wyman  wrote  a  most  interesting  account  of 
these  freshwater  shell  mounds,  which  was  published 
in  1875.*  In  it  he  states  that: 

"The  shell  deposits  on  the  river  are  entirely  differ- 
ent as  to  their  characteristics  from  the  mounds  of  the 
sea  coast.  The  last  extend  around  the  shores  of  the 
whole  peninsula  of  Florida  and  in  certain  places  as  at 
Turtle  Mound,  Charlotte  Harbor  and  Cedar  Keys, 
are  of  gigantic  proportions.  They  are  composed  ex- 
clusively of  marine  species,  mostly  of  oysters  on  the 
Atlantic,  but  on  the  Gulf  coast  of  several  species  be- 
longing to  different  genera,  as  Ostrea,  Busy  con, 
S trombus,  Fasciolaria,  Cardium,  etc."f 

The  above  statement  does  not  hold  good  of  this 
mound  at  Ormond,,  which  is  on  a  brackish  or  tide- 
water river,  within  one  mile  of  the  Atlantic  coast. 


*  Fourth  Memoir,  Peabody  Academy  of  Science, 
t  Loc.  cit.,  p.  9. 


1 

W     £ 
CQ      cs 

Q    a 

§   I 


o  1 

H  .S 

s  l 

§  : 


THE  ORMOND  SHELL  MOUND.  165 

Here  there  is  a  mixture  of  marine  and  fresh  water 
shells,  with  the  former,  however,  largely  predominat- 
ing. Oyster  shells  Jorm  but  a  minute  proportion  of 
the  bulk  of  the  mound;  fully  90  percent,  of  the 
shells  present  being  those  of  the  small  marine  bivalve, 
Don  ax  variabilis  Say. 

The  mound  at  Ormond  is  about  one  mile  north  of 
the  center  of  the  village.  It  is  in  the  form  of  a  long, 
low  ridge  extending  north  and  south  parallel  to  the 
west  bank  of  the  Halifax  River.  Though  its  sides 
are  sloping,  its  limits  are  sharply  denned,  as  one  can 
readily  ascertain  by  digging,  as  well  as  by  the  char- 
acter of  the  vegetation,  the  latter  changing  where 
the  shells  wholly  cease  and  the  level  plain  of  sand  be- 
gins. The  total  length  of  the  mound  is  1,136  feet, 
or  more  than  one-fifth  of  a  mile.  One-third  of  the 
distance  from  the  north  end  it  is  213  feet  in  width, 
and  its  eastern  side  reaches  to  within  50  feet  of  the 
edge  of  the  water  in  the  river.  At  its  middle  the 
width  is  144  feet,  and  its  eastern  edge  is  120  feet  dis- 
tant from  the  water.  One-third  the  distance  from  the 
south  end  the  width  is  362  feet,  and  the  eastern  slope 
extends  to  within  20  feet  of  the  water.  This  south- 
ern third  embraces  the  main  portion  of  the  mound,  as 
it  is  here  much  thicker  than  elsewhere. 

About  50  feet  from  the  south  end  an  excavation 
has  been  made,  128  feet  long  and  64  feet  wide,  from 
which  the  shells  have  been  hauled  for  fifteen  or  more 
years  for  use  in  making  sidewalks  and  bicycle  paths  in 


166  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

and  about  Ormond.  One  or  more  darkies  have  been 
carting  away  the  shells  almost  every  day  that  I  have 
visited  the  mound.  Their  excavations,  added  to  what 
I  have  done  myself,  have  furnished  a  good  oppor- 
tunity for  studying  the  materials  of  which  it  is  com- 
posed. At  the  deepest  point  of  excavation  the  layers 
of  coquina  shells  (the  Donax  mentioned)  alternate 
with  layers  of  mold  or  a  mixture  of  decaying  vegeta- 
tion and  sand;  there  being  six  layers  of  shells  vary- 
ing from  five  inches  to  three  feet  in  thickness,  and 
five  of  mold  from  two  to  twelve  inches  in  thickness. 
Intermingled  with  all  the  layers  of  shells  are  pieces  of 
broken  pottery,  fragments  of  bones  of  mammals,  tur- 
tles and  fish ;  pieces  of  charcoal,  ashes,  etc.  The 
larger  shells,  as  those  of  the  oyster  and  round  clam, 
occur  only  in  the  two  uppermost  shell  layers.  The 
other  shells  are  scattered  irregularly  through  the 
mass  of  Donax.  In  a  number  of  places  many  cubic 
yards  of  the  Donax  were  exposed,  as  clean  and  un- 
broken as  though  they  had  been  dumped  but  yes- 
terday. 

The  greatest  thickness  of  the  mound,  about  125 
feet  from  the  south  end;  was  found  to  be  nine  feet, 
eight  inches.  A  section  at  this  point  showed  the  pres- 
ence of  the  following  layers : 


SECTION  OF  ORMOND  MOUND.  167 

Inches. 

1.  Soil,  rich  and  black 12 

2.  Shells,  more  or  less  mixed  with  soil 25 

3.  Shells,  very  clean 36 

4.  Mold 3 

5.  Shells 5 

6.  Sand,  pure  and  clean 2 

7.  Shells 6 

8.  Mold 4 

9.  Shells 6 

10.  Mold 4 

11.  Shells 14 

12.  Sand,  surface  of  surrounding  plain 

Total 116 

In  places  a  layer  of  charcoal,  two  and  a  half  inches 
in  thickness,  occurs  between  Nos.  2  and  3  of  the  above 
section.  The  alternating  layers  of  sand  or  mold  be- 
tween the  layers  of  shells  indicate  that  the  people  who 
formed  the  mound  made  periodical  visits  to  this  local- 
ity, their  absence  being  sufficiently  prolonged  to  allow 
the  decaying  vegetation  to  form  the  layers  of  mold 
or  soil.  It  is  possible,  of  course,  that  their  rubbish 
was  dumped  on  one  portion  of  the  mound  while  an- 
other portion  formerly  used  was  allowed  to  accumu- 
late a  layer  of  mold  above  the  shells  before  being 
again  used  as  a  dumping  place.  Judging  from  the 
length  of  time  even  here  necessary  to  form  a  con- 
tinuous layer  of  soil  or  mold  an  inch  in  thickness,  the 
mound  must  have  been  a  long  period,  possibly  several 
centuries,  in  the  course  of  formation. 


1(38  A  NATURE  WOOINO. 

The  soil  at  present  overlying  the  whole  mound  is  a 
rich,  black,  vegetable  loam,  ranging  from  eight  inches 
to  one  foot  in  thickness.  That  outside  the  limits  of 
the  mound  is  thin,  being  but  an  inch  or  two  in  thick- 
ness above  rthe  prevailing  whitish  sand  of  the  vicinity. 
The  greater  part  of  the  surface  of  the  mound  was 
probably  cleared  and  cultivated  by  the  Spaniards  in 
the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century.  The  re- 
mains of  the  mortar  and  coquina  rock  of  their  houses 
are  found  in  two  or  three  places  on  the  highest  points 
of  the  mound.  Cabbage  palmettos  fifty  to  sixty  feet 
high,  and  great  pines  two  and  a  half  feet  in  diameter 
and  eighty  to  one  hundred  feet  in  height,  at  present 
cover  its  crest  and  slopes.  Live  oaks  of  large  size 
are  also  scattered  here  and  there  among  the  pines  and 
palmettos.  One  of  these,  a  great  spreading  giant  of 
its  kind,  growing  on  the  eastern  slope  near  the  mid- 
dle of  the  mound,  is  115  inches  in  circumference,  two 
feet  above  the  ground.  The  size  of  this  tree  and  the 
thickness  of  the  soil  on  the  crest  are  excellent  wit- 
nesses as  to  the  many  years  which  have  elapsed  since 
the  last  bowl  of  Donax  soup  was  brewed  and  the 
shells  dumped  on  this  kitchen-midden  by  an  ancient 
people. 

Representatives  of  twenty-eight  species  of  mollusks 
were  found  in  the  mound.*  Of  these  nineteen  are  of 
marine  origin ;  eight  occur  only  in  fresh  water,  while 

"This  includes  six  species  taken  by  Prof.  C. H.  Hitchcock  in  a  subse- 
quent investigation. 


#„,..« 


SHELLS  OF  ORMOND  MOUND.  169 

one  is  a  land  shell.     As  already  noted,  fully  ninety 

per  cent,  of  the  shells  are  of  the  little  triangular 

marine  bivalve,  Donax  variabilis  Say.     This  is  at 

present  a  very  common  shell  along  the 

Atlantic  coast  from  Cape  Hatteras  to 

St.   Thomas.      At  low  tide  it  may  be 

gathered  by  the  bushel  from  the  sand  Fig.  ^ 

along  the  beach  opposite  Ormond.     It 

is  still  much  used  in  making  soup,  and  probably  fur- 

nished most  of  the  animal  food  of  the  people  who 

formed  the  mound. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  shells  taken  from  the 
mound  :* 

UNIVALVES. 

1.  Murex    fulvescens    Sowerby.      One    specimen 

from  near  the  bottom  of  the  mound.  Frag- 
ments of  others  were  seen.  It  is  a  post-plio- 
cene species  which  is  yet  somewhat  rarely 
found  along  the  coasts  of  Florida  and  the 
West  Indies. 

2.  Fasciolaria  gigantea  Kiener.     Among  a  collec- 

tion of  shells  taken  from  the  mound  by  Pro- 
fessor Hitchcock  and  sent  to  me  was  a  single 
specimen  of  this  large  univalve.  It  occurs 
quite  commonly  along  the  Florida  coast. 


*For  aid  in  preparing  this  list  I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  Charles  T.  Pimp- 
son,  of  the  I  .  S.  National  Museum,  and  to  Mr.  L.  E.  Daniels,  of  Laporte 
Ind. 


170  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

3.  Fasciolaria  distant  Lam.     Scarce.     Occurs  in 

the  upper  half  of  the  mound.  Ranges  from 
Cape  Hatteras  to  Yucatan. 

4.  Fulgur  carica  L.    Common  in  the  upper  half  of 

the  mound.  It  is  at  present  an  abundant  spe- 
cies in  shallow  water  from  Cape  Cod  to  St. 
Thomas. 

5.  Fulgur  perversus  L.     Professor  Hitchcock  se- 

cured several  specimens  of  this  left-handed 
form.  It  is  a  post-pliocene  species  ranging 
from  Cape  Hatteras  to  Cuba. 

6.  Fulgur  canaliculata  Dillwyn.    This  species  was 

represented  by  several  young  examples  taken 
by  Professor  Hitchcock.  It  occurs  from 
Cape  Cod  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

7.  Oliva  literata  Lam.      But  one   specimen  was 

found.  It  was  near  the  middle  of  the  mound. 
Its  present  range  is  from  Hatteras  to  Key 
West. 

8.  Polinices  duplicate  Say.     This  marine  snail  is, 

next  to  the  Donax,  the  most  common  shell  in 
the  mound ;  especially  in  the  upper  half.  At 
present  it  is  abundant  along  the  beach  oppo- 
site Ormond. 

9.  Crepidula  fornicata  Linn.     But  two  specimens 

of  this  "boat-shell"  were  found.  They  were 
in  the  uppermost  layer  of  shells.  It  occurs 
along  the  full  length  of  the  Atlantic  coast. 


SHELLS  OF  ORMOND  MOUND.  171 

10.  Vivipara  georgmna  Lea.     A  few  specimens  of 

this  southern  fresh-water  univalve  were  scat- 
tered through  the  upper  half  of  the  mound. 

11.  Ampullaria,   depressa    Say.      This    is    another 

fresh-water  shell,  which  is  abundant  in  the 
St.  John's  River  and  its  tributaries.  Accord- 
ing to  Wymans,  it  forms  a  large  proportion  of 
the  fresh-water  shell  mounds  along  that 
stream.  In  fact,  he  states  that  it,  Paludina, 
multilineaia,  Say  and  Unio  ~buckleyi  Lea,  are 
the  three  species  which  form  these  mounds. 
He  then  adds:  "Either  of  these  species,  in- 
stead of  being  promiscuously  mingled  with 
the  rest,  as  is  generally  the  case,  may  be 
found  forming  considerable  deposits  by  them- 
selves, without  the  admixture  of  the  others, 
as  if  at  certain  times  they  had  been  exclu- 
sively used  for  food." 

This  is  true  of  the  Ampullarias  in  the 
mound  at  Ormond.  They  were  found  in  but 
three  different  places,  about  a  peck  in  each 
place,  and  nowhere  else.  We  can  suppose, 
therefore,  that  some  visitor,  or  member  of  the 
party  here  encamped,  returning  from  an  in- 
land stream  brought  an  occasional  supply  of 
these  fresh-water  mollusks  with  him  as  a  vari- 
ation of  diet  for  his  dusky  brethren.  After 
serving  up  the  animals  as  foo<l,  the  empty 
shells  were  dumped  into  one  place  011  the  re- 


172  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

fuse  heap  near  their  dwelling,  there  to  remain 
for  centuries,  and  when  uncovered  to  serve  as 
a  source  of  speculation  for  some  visiting  nat- 
uralist. 

12.  Glandina  truncata  Gmel.     A  few  specimens  of 

the  shells  of  this  common  land  snail  were 
found  scattered  here  and  there  among  the 
shell  layers  of  the  mound.  It  is  possible  that 
they  found  their  own  way  there  during  the 
time  of  its  formation. 

13.  Planorbis  glabratus  Say.     Several  examples  of 

this  fresh-water  mollusk  were  secured  by  Pro- 
fessor Hitchcock.  It  is  quite  common  in  the 
ponds  about  Ormond,  and  ranges  throughout 
the  southeastern  United  States. 

BIVALVES. 

14.  Tagelus  gibbus  Speng.     A  single  valve  of  this 

representative  of  the  razor-clam  group  was 
found  in  the  lower  third  of  the  mound.  It 
ranges  from  Cape  Cod  to  Trinidad. 

15.  Donax  variabilis  Say.      This  "coquina  clam" 

forms  by  far  the  greater  part  of  the  mound. 

16.  Venus  mercenaria  Linn.    Two  or  three  deposits, 

comprising  a  half  bushel  or  so  each,  of  the 
shells  of  this  round  clam  were  found  in  the 
uppermost  third. 

17.  Cardium  magnum  Born.    A  few  valves,  mostly 

broken,  were  found  in  several  of  the  shell  lay- 


SHELLS  OF  ORMOND  MOUND.  173 

ers  of  the  mound.  It  is  a  Pliocene  species 
which  yet  occurs  along  the  coast  from  Vir- 
ginia southward. 

18.  Unio  obesm  blandingianus  Lea.     A  number  of 

the  valves  of  this  fresh-water  form  were  scat- 
tered throughout  the  mound.  The  epidermis 
had  wholly  disappeared.  It  occurs  in  streams 
throughout  Florida,  and  northward  to  south- 
ern Virginia. 

19.  Unio  occultus  Lea.     A  few  valves  of  this  Unio 

were  taken  mingled  with  those  of  the  last 
named  species.  It  is  known  only  from  Flor- 
ida streams. 

20.  Unio  coruscus  Gld.    Several  valves  of  this  Unio 

were  secured  by  Professor  Hitchcock.  It  is 
known  only  from  the  streams  of  Florida. 

21.  Unio  sp.f    One  valve  of  a  Unio,  distinct  from 

any  of  the  above,  was  found  by  Mr.  Simpson 
among  the  specimens  submitted  to  him. 

22.  Anodonta  imbecillis  Say.     A  number  of  worn 

and  partly  decayed  shells  of  this  handsome 
fresh-water  form  were  present.  According 
to  a  note  by  Mr.  Simpson,  it  is  not  at  present 
known  to  occur  south  of  North  Carolina. 

23.  Area  americana  Gray. 

24.  Area  ponderosa  Say.    Numerous  valves  of  these 

two  marine  bivalves  were  found  in  all  the  lay- 
ers of  Donax  shells.  They  are  now  common 
along  the  beach  opposite  the  mound. 


174  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

25.  Modiola  plicatula  Lam.    This  sea  "mussel"  was 

represented  by  a  few  broken  valves  in  each 
of  the  Donax  layers.  It  occurs  along  the 
Atlantic  coast  from  Nova  Scotia  to  Georgia. 

26.  Ostrea  virginica  Gmel.     A  number  of  isolated 

deposits  of  the  valves  of  the  common  oyster 
were  found  in  the  upper  two  layers  of  the 
mound ;  but  none  in  any  of  the  lower  layers. 
This  is  strange  when  taken  in  connection  with 
the  facts  that  this  oyster  is  common  in  the 
Halifax  River,  and  that,  according  to  the  ex- 
tract by  Wyman,  already  quoted,  the  large 
mounds  along  the  coast  to  the  south  are  com- 
posed mostly  of  the  shells  of  oysters. 

27.  Pecten  dislocatus   Say.      Professor  Hitchcock 

found  a  number  of  valves  of  this  marine  f onn 
scattered  among  the  layers  of  Donax.  It  is  at 
present  abundant  from  Cape  Halt-eras  to  the 
straits  of  Florida. 

28.  Anomia  simplex  Orbig.      A  few  valves   were 

found  in  all  the  layers,  but  it  was  more  com- 
mon in  the  lower  ones.  It  occurs  along  the 
entire  Atlantic  coast. 

Besides  the  above  named  shells,  the  remains  of  a 
barnacle,  Balanus  sp.  ?  occur  occasionally  in  most,  if 
not  all,  of  the  shell  layers  of  the  mound. 

A  number  of  bones  and  fragments  of  bones  from 
the  different  layers  of  the  mound  were  taken  home 
with  me  and  submitted  to  Dr.  O.  P.  Hay,  of  the 


BONES  OF  ORMOND  MOUND.  175 

American  Museum  of  Natural  History.  He  reports 
that  these  consist  of  the  following: 

Virginia  deerr  Cariacus  virginianus  Bod.  Bones 
of  skull  and  limbs. 

Dog  or  small  wolf,  Canis  sp.  ?    Jaws  and  teeth  of. 

Porpoise.    Tail  vertebrae  of. 

Great  Auk,  Plautus  impennis  L.    Humerus  of. 

Gopher,  Xerobates  polypJiemus  Daudin.    Bones  of. 

Alligator  snapping  turtle,  Macrochelys  temminckii 
Troost.  Bones  of. 

Sharks,  two  species.     Vertebrae  of. 

*Bony  fish,  Chcetodipterus  sp.?  Interspinal 
bones  of. 

Of  these  by  far  the  most  interesting  and  unlooked 
for  is  the  humerus  of  the  extinct  Great  Auk,  which 
was  taken  at  about  the  middle  of  the  thickest  layer  of 
shells  (No.  3  of  the  section),  near  the  point  where 
my  hand  rests  in  the  accompanying  plate.  This 
bird,  "which  lost  the  use  of  its  wings  and  perished  off 
the  earth  in  consequence,"  has  heretofore  been  sup- 
posed to  have  limited  its  range  to  the  North  Atlantic 
Region.  The  Great  Auk  was  formerly  common  on 
the  coast  of  Iceland  and  found  in  vast  numbers  off 
the  coast  of  Newfoundland,  especially  at  Funk  Island. 
It  was  a  little  larger  than  a  goose,  and  formed  an  im- 

*Prof.  C.  H.  Hitchcock,  in  a  subsequent  excavation  in  the  mound,  se- 
cured the  bones  of  several  other  animals,  which  have  been  identified  by 
Dr.  Hay  as  follows  :  Raccoon,  opossum,  heron,  alligator,  gar  pike,  wolf 
fish,  angel  fish,  cat  fish,  and  other  fish  of  the  genera  Sphyrsena  and  Prio- 
notus. 


176 


A  NATURE  WOOING. 


portant  article  of  food  for  the  early  navigators  and 
fishermen.  Being  incapable  of  flight  it  was  easily 
captured  on  land  and  was  taken  in  great  numbers  at 
its  breeding  places.  Systematic  slaughter  of  the  bird 


Fig.  53 — Great  Auk. 

for  its  flesh  and  feathers  caused  its  extermination 
about  1840.  Previous  to  my  excavations  in  the  Or- 
mond  mound  its  remains  had  been  found  from  New- 
foundland southward  as  far  as  the  coast  of  Massachu- 
setts, but  not  below  that  State.  The  finding  of  its 
bones  in  this  East  Florida  shell  mound  was,  there- 
fore, a  remarkable  extension  of  its  range. 

In  the  spring  of  1902  an  account  of  my  discovery 
of  the  Great  Auk  bone  in  the  Ormond  mound  was 


A  GREAT  AUK'S  BONE. 


177 


published  quite  widely  in  the  newspapers,  and  was 
noted  by  Prof.  C.  H.  Hitchcock,  of 
Dartmouth  College,  who  was  then 
visiting  Ormond.  He  immediately  be- 
gan explorations  in  the  mound  and 
was  fortunate  enough  to  find  another 
humerus  of  the  bird.  This  was  first 
shown  to  Prof.  F.  A.  Lucas,  of  the  U. 
S.  National  Museum,  and  was  after- 
ward turned  over  to  Dr.  Hay.  These 
authorities  both  agreed  that  the  two 
hurneri  are  undoubtedly  those  of  the 
auk  and  belong  to  the  same  side,  the 
left,  therefore  representing  two  dis- 
tinct individuals. 

In  a  letter  to  me,  Prof.  Hitchcock 
states  that  his  excavation 
was  about  thirty  feet 
southwest  of  the  one  in 
which  I  found  the  auk 
bone,  and  that  his  bone 
came  from  the  layer  of 
shells  at  the  very  base  of 
the  deposit,  and  was  there- 
fore beneath  eight  feet  of 
shells  and  mold. 

Taking  into  considera- 
tion the  fact  that  both 
auk  bones  were  found  in  (Thec 


Fig.  54— Left  humerus  of  the  Great 

Auk,  taken  from  Shell  Mound 

at  Ormond,  in  April,  1899. 

Natural  size. 


section  shows  the  flattened  charac- 
ter of  the  bone.) 


12 


178  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

the  lower  portion  of  the  mound,  and  were  integral 
parts  of  the  shell  layers  which  surrounded  them, 
there  is  no  other  conclusion  but  that  they  are 
the  bones  of  birds  which  served  as  a  part  of 
the  food  of  the  aborigines  who  formed  the  mound* 
There  may  be  numerous  other  remains  of  the  auk 
scattered  throughout  the  mound,  as  only  a  very  small 
portion  of  it  has  been  examined.  Moreover,  many 
bones  of  the  bird  may  have  been  hauled  out  to  the 
sidewalks  of  Ormond  in  the  past,  as  the  material  is 
used  for  those  walks  just  as  it  occurs  in  the  mound, 
without  screening  or  other  process  of  separating  the 
shells  from  the  other  debris. 

Dr.  Hay  has  recently  published  an  account  of  the 
finding  of  the  two  bones  in  the  Ormond  mound.* 
After  stating  the  facts  relative  to  their  discovery,  and 
those  concerning  the  former  known  distribution  of 
the  bird,  he  adds:  "That  the  Great  Auk  was  a  per- 
manent resident  in  Florida  is  very  doubtful.  We  can 
hardly  argue  with  respect  to  the  shell  heaps  of  Flor- 
ida, as  Hardy  has  maintained  in  the  case  of  the  ISTew 
England  heaps,  that  they  were  built  up  during  the 
summer,  and  that  hence  the  bones  are  those  of  auks 
which  were  captured  at  that  season.  On  the  other 
hand,  Ormond  is  a  thousand  miles  distant  in  a 
straight  line  from  Cape  Cod,  and  eighteen  hundred 
from  Newfoundland;  and  either  of  these  distances 
would  be  a  long  trip  for  a  wingless  bird  to  make  and 

*  The  Auk,  July,  1902,  p.  255. 


POTTERY  OF  ORMOND  MOUND. 


179 


repeat  in  half  a  year,  even  though  its  swimming  pow- 
ers were  very  great.  We  shall,  however,  probably 
yet  learn  that  the  Great  Auk  was  a  permanent  resi- 
dent along  our  coast  considerably  further  south  than 
Cape  Cod.  For  the  further  elucidation  of  this  sub- 
ject, search  ought  to  be  made  in  shell  heaps  all  along 
the  coast." 

Fragments  of  pottery  occur  in  all  the  shell  layers 
of  the  Ormond  mound.  Those  in  the  lower  layers 
are,  for  the  most  part,  thicker  and  cruder  in  struc- 
ture than  those  of  the  upper.  Their  outer  surface  is 
wholly  unmarked,  and  there  is  no  appearance  of  a 
rim  or  thicker  projecting  portion  at  the  top.  In  some 
of  the  pieces  the  curves  are  not  true  and  the  thick- 
ness not  uniform.  Two  or  three  have  holes  in  them 
near  the  top,  pre- 
sumably for  a 
handle  or  bail  for 
lifting  or  sus- 
pending above  a 
fire.  This  bail 
was  probably  of 
bark  fiber. 

The  pieces 
taken  from  the 
upper  layers  of 
the  mound  are 
many  of  them 
more  or  less  decorated  on  the  outer  surface.  These 
decorations  are,  in  the  main,  rough  parallel  tracings 


Fig.  55 — Piece  of  Pottery  taken  from  Ormond 
Shell  Mound. 


180  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

made  with  some  pointed  instrument.  In  several  of 
the  pieces  (Fig.  55)  sets  of  parallel  lines  are  arranged 
so  that  they  meet  at  an  angle.  In  one  instance  a  de- 
sign of  regular  and  symmetrical  squares,  one  within 
another,  is  present  (Fig  56). 


Fig.  56— Piece  of  Pottery  taken  from  Ormond  Shell  Mound. 

Several  of  the  fragments  with  traced  markings 
have  a  rim  much  thicker  than  the  sides  of  the  ves- 
sel. In  the  one  represented  by  Fig  55,  the  rim  is 
21  mm.  thick,  while  the  lower  part  of  the  piece  is  but 
10  mm.  In  another  fragment,  with  the  outer  surface 
undecorated,  the  rim  is  31  mm.  thick,  and  has  its 
upper  surface  marked  with  numerous  sets  of  parallel 
lines  which  meet  each  other  at  different  angles,  while 
the  thickness  of  the  sides  is  but  9  mm.  In  this  piece 
the  rim  projects  both  outwardly  and  inwardly  above 
the  sides,  but  the  inner  projection  is  much  more 
marked.  It  is  evidently  a  part  of  a  large  jar  rather 


POTTERY  OF  OEMOND  MOUND.  181 

than  a  cooking  vessel,  as  its  outer  side  is  not  snioke 
begrimed. 

But  one  or  two  of  the  pieces  taken  have  their  sur- 
face stamped.  The  markings  of  these  were  a  series 
of  straight  ridges  crossing  each  other  at  right  angles, 
thus  forming  depressed  squares  of  small  size. 

The  material  of  which  the  pottery  was  composed 
was,  in  most  all  instances,  evidently  clay  free  from 
sand  or  shells.  In  most  cases  the  outer  and  inner  sur- 
face is  smooth,  except  for  the  markings  above  men- 
tioned, and  dense,  while  the  middle  portion  is  much 
darker  and  quite  porous.  This  porosity  is  due  to  an 
admixture  of  vegetable  fibers  which  were  destroyed 
during  the  process  of  burning,  each  fiber  leaving  in 
its  place  a  small  pore  or  canal.  In  some  of  the  poorly 
burned  specimens  the  remains  of  the  fibers  are  still 
present.  It  seems  that  in  finishing  the  vessel,  after  it 
had  been  formed  of  fibers  and  clay,  the  makers  cov- 
ered the  inner  and  outer  surfaces  with  a  thin  layer  or 
"skimming"  of  clay  alone,  thus  preventing  the  pres- 
ence of  the  pores  on  these  surfaces.  Pieces  of  two 
vessels  showed  the  presence  of  quite  a  quantity  of 
sand  mixed  with  the  clay.  These  were  from  the  lower 
portion  of  the  mound. 

Mr.  Bristol  presented  me  with  a  piece  of  a  stone 
vessel  which  he  had  taken  from  a  load  of  shells  hauled 
from  the  mound  for  a  sidewalk  in  front  of  his  resi- 
dence. It  is  evidently  a  portion  of  a  large  mortar  or 
bowl,  made  of  a  reddish  gray  steatite  or  soapstone. 


182  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

It  is  very  smooth  on  the  inside,  rough  and  smoke  be- 
grimed without.  Its  size  is  two  by  four  and  a  half 
inches  and  its  thickness  about  three-quarters  of  an 
inch,  or  17  to  19  mm.  Other  smaller  fragments  of 
the  same  material  were  seen  in  the  load  of  shells  by 
Mr.  B.,  but  were  not  saved. 

The  piece  given  me  was  submitted  to  Dr.  W.  J. 
McGee,  of  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology  at 
Washington,  who  reported  on  it  as  follows:  "The 
fragment  of  a  large  steatite  pot  mentioned  in  your 
note  has  just  come  to  hand.  The  vessel  was  evidently 
of  considerable  size  and  excellent  finish  for  this  ma- 
terial. The  specimen  is  of  interest  as  indicating  a 
wide  distribution  of  steatite  pottery.  The  best  known 
aboriginal  steatite  quarries  are  in  the  Piedmont  re- 
gion, in  a  belt  extending  from  about  the  Delaware 
River  southward  nearly  or  quite  to  the  Savannah; 
but  there  is  no  probability  that  the  material  was  quar- 
ried nearer  to  Ormond  than  northwestern  Georgia, 
while  the  utensil  represented  by  your  specimen  may 
perhaps  have  been  transported  much  farther  than 
this.  Ordinarily  the  steatite  pots  are  elliptical  or  of 
a  broad  boat-shape,  with  projecting  handles  (some- 
times carved  into  rude  effigies)  at  either  end;  your 
specimen  may  represent  the  side  of  such  a  pot,  though 
its  curvature  suggests  that  it  may  be  from  a  specimen 
of  more  nearly  cylindrical  cross-section." 

Aside  from  the  pieces  of  pottery,  the  only  artificial 
objects  found  during  my  investigation  of  the  mound 


WHO  FORMED  THE  MOUND?  183 

were  a  piece  of  a  bone  awl,  two  inches  in  length  and 
having  the  surface  well  polished,  and  a  concave  disk 
of  bone,  37  mm.  in  diameter,  and  5  mm.  thick,  with  a 
hole  8  mm.  in  diameter,  drilled  through  the  center.* 
From  the  facts  ascertained 
and  mentioned  concerning 
this  mound,  and  especially 
from  the  manner  in  which 
the  layers  of  shells,  with  their 
accompaniments  of  bones, 
pieces  of  pottery,  charcoal, 
etc.,  are  arranged,  there  can 

be    no    doubt    but    that    it    is      Fis-  57— Bone  Ornament 
.  ,  .  taken  from  Ormond 

a    kitchen-midden    or    accu-  shell  Mound, 

mulation  of  refuse  material 

made  about  the  dwellings  of  a  people  who  inhabited 
this  spot  hundreds  of  years  before  the  white  man 
landed  on  the  shores  of  Florida.  It  is  wholly  impos- 
sible that  such  an  accumulation  of  shells  and  such  a 
combination  of  objects  could  have  been  formed  by 
natural  causes.  Of  the  people  who  made  the  mound, 
whether  Indians,  Mound  Builders,  or  what,  not  even 
tradition  remaineth.  The  Red  Men  who  were  here 
when  the  Spaniards  came  have  asserted  time  and 
again  that  this  and  other  shell  mounds  of  the  State 
were  present  as  they  are  to-day,  as  far  back  as  their 
ancestry  had  records.  The  mound,  then,  is  but  a  re- 

*  Prof.  Hitchcock  reports  the  finding  of  some  bone  points  and  awls 
with  ornamental  ends,  but  without  eyes. 


184  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

minder  of  the  feasts  of  a  forgotten  race — a  vast  pile 
of  shells,  bones  and  broken  utensils  which  serves  as 
the  sole  monument  of  a  people  that  has  vanished  from 
the  earth. 

April  9, 1899. — ?Tis  Sunday  morn  once  more — the 
last  Sabbath  of  my  sojourn  in  the  "Cracker  State." 
A  cold  wind  blows  from  the  north  and  the  mercury 
stands  at  48°  at  breakfast  time.  A  stove  is  a  com- 
fort at  almost  mid- April  in  the  "Land  of  Flowers." 

I  make  my  way  to  Bennett's  grove.  The  tempera- 
ture rises  by  the  time  I  reach  there  and  begin  my 
search  for  reptile,  mollusk  and  insect. 

I  find  here  my  first  living  examples  of  the  large 
pinkish  univalve  mollusk,  Glandina  truncata  Gmelin. 
When  living  and  full  grown  it  is  one  of  the  largest 
and  most  handsome  of  our  North  American  terres- 
trial mollusks,  reaching  at  times  100  mm.,  or  four 
inches  in  length.  Their  dead  shells,  which  I  have 
found  in  various  places  heretofore,  have  been 
bleached  by  rain  and  frost.  The  living  ones  are  pret- 
tily tinted  with  rose  color  or  pinkish.  This  species 
inhabits  the  Atlantic  and  Gulf  States  from  North 
Carolina  to  Texas.  Binney  has  written  of  it:  "The 
habits  of  this  mollusk  are  somewhat  aquatic.  It  is 
found  on  the  sea  islands  of  Georgia  and  around  the 
keys  and  everglades  of  Florida,  and  in  these  situations 
the  shell  often  attains  the  length  of  four  inches.  Mr. 
Say  found  it  in  the  marshes  immediately  behind  the 
sand-hills  of  the  coast.  It  is  most  readily  found  in 


A  FLORIDA  MOLLUSK. 


185 


the  center  of  the  clumps  of  coarse  grass  on  these 
marshes.  The  animal  is  in  part,  if  not  altogether, 
carnivorous,  and  its  powerful 
lingual  membrane,  armed  with 
long,  sharp-pointed  teeth,  is  well 
adapted  to  its  food.  By  its  ac- 
tion the  soft  parts  of  its  prey  are 
rapidly  rasped  away  or  are  forced 
in  large  morsels  down  the  oesoph- 
agus. It  has  been  seen  to  swallow 
entire  the  half-putrid  remains  of 
another  land  snail,  a  Helix,  and  to 
attack  slugs,  Limaces,  confined  in 
the  same  box  with  it,  rasping  off 
large  portions  of  the  integument, 
and  in  some  instances  destroying 
them.  In  one  instance  an  individ- 
ual attacked  and  devoured  one  of 
its  own  species,  thrusting  its  long 
neck  into  the  interior  of  the  shell 
and  removing  all  the  viscera."* 

A  single  example  of  another  smaller  and  prettily 
marked  shell,  found  to-day  for  the  first  time,  is 
Bulimulus  dormani  Binney,  whose  known  range  is 
restricted  to  Florida.  It  is  elongate-conic  in  form,  an 
inch  and  a  fourth  in  length,  and  of  a  light  flesh  color, 
with  several  revolving  lines  of  interrupted  reddish- 
brown  patches.  A  dead  specimen  of  a  large  Planor- 


Fig.   58—  Glandh 
Gmel 


(After  Binney.) 


"Manual  of  American  Land  Shells,  1885,  p.  349. 


186  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

bis,  P.  glabratus  Say,  is  also  secured  from  the  side  of 
a  ditch. 

A  large  spotted  frog  leaps  from  before  me  and 
alights  with  a  plunk  in  the  water  of  the  ditch.  I 
scoop  it  out  with  my  butterfly  net,  and  find  it  to  be 
the  southern  form  of  the  common  leopard  frog,  Eana 
virescens  Kalm.  The  head  is  longer  and  more  pointed 
than  in  northern  examples,  and  there  is  no  lengthwise 
band  on  the  front  of  femur.  Cope  has  given  the 
name  splienocephala  to  this  long-headed  variety. 
While  mostly  southern  in  its  range,  it  has  been  found 
in  the  cypress  swamps  of  Knox  County,  Indiana. 

Though  I  have  been  on  the  lookout  for  rattlesnakes 
during  my  rambles  about  Ormond,  I  have  not  hap- 
pened upon  a  single  specimen.  To-day,  however,  I 
saw  one  in  captivity  which  was  captured  near  here  a 
week  or  so  ago.  It  is  a  small  specimen  of  the  diamond 
rattlesnake,  Crotalus  adamanteus  Beauvois.  This  is 
the  common  rattlesnake  of  Florida,  and  is  said  to 
reach  a  length  of  eight  feet.  Many  improbable  tales 
are  told  hereabouts  of  this  reptile.  Mr.  Bennett  avers 
that  an  average  of  one  person  a  year  dies  in  this  (Yo- 
iusia)  county  from  its  bite.  Probably  one  in  a 
dozen  years  would  be  nearer  the  truth.  He  states  also 
that  he  killed  an  old  snake  and  twelve  young,  which 
were  accompanying  her  as  chickens  follow  a  hen. 
Another  citizen  of  the  town  afiirms  that  he  has  seen 
the  bodieis  of  two  black  snakes  which,  when  cut  open, 
disclosed  rattlesnakes  which  they  had  swallowed.  One 


52 
S 


THE  DIAMOND  RATTLESNAKE.  187 

of  these  he  saw  capture  the  rattler.  The  black  snake 
crawled  rapidly  around  its  intended  victim,  as  the  lat- 
ter lay  coiled.  The  head  of  the  rattlesnake  turned  at 
the  same  time,  its  eye  all  the  time  fixed  upon  its 
enemy.  Finally  it  seemed  to  grow  dizzy  and  its  head 
fell  down,  when  the  black  snake  immediately  sprang 
to  the  attack  and  swallowed  its  victim  head  first. 

More  probable  is  the  following  account  of  the  hab- 
its of  the  diamond  rattler  by  Dr.  Einar  Loennberg, 
who  has  studied  for  a  number  of  years  the  reptiles 
found  in  eastern  Florida:  "In  the  interior  of  the 
country  the  diamond-backed  rattlesnake  is  scarce,  but 
not  so  along  the  coast  and  on  some  of  the  Florida 
keys.  In  the  neighborhood  of  Ozona,  in  Hillsboro 
County,  I  heard  of  the  killing  of  nine  rattlesnakes 
within  two  weeks  in  October,  1892.  It  evidently  pre- 
fers the  neighborhood  of  the  water,  and  is  a  good 
swimmer,  not  afraid  to  cross  over  from  *key?  to 
'key.'  If  not  too  often  disturbed  this  species  is  slow 
and  does  not  rattle  unless  offended.  I  saw  one  in 
the  latter  part  of  October  in  the  pine  woods  near 
Toronto,  Orange  County,  coiled  up  under  a  palmetto 
bush.  A  dog  following  us  went  up  and  sniffed  at 
him,  with  his  nose  hardly  a  foot  from  the  snake.  We 
called  the  dog  back  and  a  man  ran  forward  with  a 
whip  and  struck  the  snake  several  times.  After  the 
second  blow  the  snake  began  to  rattle  and  made  him- 
self ready  to  strike.  This  shows  plainly  the  slow  na- 
ture of  the  snake.  In  other  cases  they  are  more  easily 


188  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

offended.  Those  kept  in  boxes  and  cages  often  begin 
to  rattle  as  soon  as  they  see  anybody  approaching. 
They  are  easy  to  keep  alive,  and  take  food  without 
trouble.  I  saw  one  that  was  kept  in  a  small  box  and 
was  fed  with  toads ;  it  did  so  well  there  that  it  changed 
its  skin  twice  in  a  summer.  They  are  often  kept  in 
the  shops  of  taxidermists  and  in  'curiosity  stores/ 
where  Northern  tourists  buy  them,  paying  good 
prices.  The  skin  is  often  used  for  ornaments  or  for 
the  manufacture  of  pocketbooks  and  similar  objects. 

"People  are  very  seldom  bitten  by  rattlesnakes  in 
Florida.  The  rattling,  the  strong  odor,  and  the  slow- 
ness of  the  snake  are  protective.  This  snake  is  often 
caught  by  placing  an  empty  barrel  over  the  coils, 
after  which  a  board  is  shoved  under  the  reptile  and 
the  whole  thing  turned  over."* 

Besides  the  diamond  rattlesnake,  the  small  ground 
rattler,  Sistrurus  miliarius  L.,  closely  allied  to  the 
northern  massasauga  or  prairie  rattlesnake,  occurs 
throughout  Florida.  The  other  poisonous  reptiles  of 
the  State  are  the  water-moccasin  or  "cotton-mouth," 
Ancistrodon  piscivorus  Lacepede,  and  the  coral  or 
bead  snake,  Elaps  fulvius  L.,  both  of  which  range 
north  to  southern  Indiana.  The  former  belongs  to 
the  same  genus  as  the  copperhead  of  the  north.  The 
coral  snake  is  a  handsome  reptile,  being  possessed  of 
a  slender  body  which  is  encircled  by  alternate  bands 
of  jet  black  and  bright  red,  fourteen  to  nineteen  of 

*  Proc.  U.  S.  Nat.  Mus.,  XVII,  1894,  p.  335. 


THE  CORAL  SNAKE.  189 

each,  the  latter  color  merging  into  yellow  at  the  edges 
of  the  rings.  Much  discussion  has  taken  place  con- 
cerning the  ability  of  the  coral  snake  to  inflict  a  dan- 
gerous bite,  mainly  on  account  of  the  smallness  of  its 
mouth  and  the  shortness  of  its  fangs.  Dr.  Loennberg, 
however,  records  the  death  of  a  Swede  whom  he  knew 
at  Oakland,  Orange  County,  the  man  dying  twelve 
hours  after  being  bitten  by  one  of  these  reptiles.  He 
also  states  that  he  had  heard  of  several  other  cases  of 
boys  dying  from  the  effect  of  the  Elaps'  bite.  He 
adds:  "Elaps  fulvius  is,  however,  a  good-natured 
snake,  and  it  does  not  bite  unless  it  is  very  much 
provoked.  If  not  handled  too  roughly,  it  may  be  al- 
lowed to  crawl  on  one's  hands  from  one  to  the 
other.  I  have  allowed  it  myself  once,  but  I  hardly 
think  I  would  do  it  over  again,  and  would  not  advise 
anybody  else  to  try  it."* 

I  saw  none  of  these  poisonous  snakes  about  Or- 
mond,  though  I  heard  all  of  them  mentioned  as  being 
found  there.  The  Elaps  is  said  to  be  common  there 
from  mid- April  until  late  autumn,  being  often  plowed 
or  dug  up  in  the  gardens,  or  disclosed  to  view  when 
overturning  logs  or  rubbish. 

April  10,  1899. — This  morning  I  seek  the  pine 
woods  and  the  sun — a  place  where  nature  is  open  and 
generous — where  the  breezes  freely  play,  soughing 
and  soaring  amidst  the  needles  of  the  pines — where 
the  sun  shines  only  on  pines,  bunch  grass  and  sand — 

*  Loc.  cit.,  p.  334. 


190  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

where  smilax,  saw  palm,  scrub  oak  and  brambles  are 
unknown.  This  morn  a  new  life  begins  to  stir  within 
me.  I  know  not  how  long  it  will  last.  I  feel  that  new 
ambitions  should  be  cherished  in  my  soul,  that  the 
old  should  be  forsaken ;  that  new  hopes  should  reign 
in  my  heart,  that  the  old  should  be  forgotten ;  that  a 
new  love  of  nature  should  be  forever  with  me,  that 
the  old  should  belong  to  the  eternity  of  the  past. 

I  pause  not  until  I  reach  the  stream  near  the  edge 
of  the  pine  woods ;  a  stream  whose  waters  are  clear, 
yet  dark;  rapid  flowing,  yet  here  and  there  form- 
ing quiet  pools  over  which  the  dragonfly  lurks,  and 
around  which  his  prey,  the  humming  mosquito,  un- 
wittingly flits.  Here  I  capture  several  fine  dragon- 
flies,  slender  bodied,  dark  winged,  handsome  examples 
of  the  species  Argia,  fumipennis  Burm.,  and  A.  tibi- 
alis  Ram.  One  has  a  mosquito  or  allied  insect  in  its 
mouth,  and  I  disturb  forever  its  breakfast. 

Along  the  borders  of  this  stream,  as  far  as  eye  can 
see,  is  a  tangled  mass  of  smilax,  wild  grape,  scrub  oak, 
saw  palmetto  and  many  other  forms  of  creeping  and 
thorny  shrubs  and  vines;  the  whole  forming  a  mass 
through  which  a  man  would  have  difficulty  in  forcing 
his  way,  but  among  which  the  moccasin,  rattlesnake, 
alligator,  mud  puppy,  raccoon,  otter  and  other  nox- 
ious and  innoxious  mud-loving  forms  delight,  and 
through  which  they  pass  with  ease. 

High  over  the  pine  woods  an  osprey  soars.  What 
seeks  he  there  ?  Ko  mullet  or  minnow  swims  amidst 


VIREOS  AND  DRAGONFLIES. 


191 


these  sands.  Perchance  he  is  looking  for  a  snake  with 
which  to  break  the  monotony  of  his  piscatorial  meals. 
Perhaps  a  mouse,  a  wood  rat,  or  even  a  rabbit  is  oc- 
casionally relished  by  this  fish-eating  bird. 

The  red-eyed  vireo  sings  as  merrily  and  unceas- 
ingly as  on  a  day  in 
mid-May  in  Indiana. 
The  flowering  dog- 
wood, Cornus  florida 
L.,  blossoms  here  as 
there.  They  take  me 
back  to  other  days 
when  I  chased  the 
slender  black  Argia 
dragonflies  along  a 
slow  flowing,  purling 
brooklet  —  of  other 
days  when  a  bevy  of 
happy  young  folks — 

their  hearts  full  of  joy — their  souls  unused  to  care — 
followed  where  I  led,  and  listened  to  my  tales  of  the 
life  of  a  dragonfly.  For,  in  those  days,  I,  as  well  as 
they, 

' '  Saw  the  dragonfly 
Come  from  the  pools  where  he  did  lie. 

' '  An  inner  impulse  rent  the  veil 
Of  his  old  hnsk :  from  head  to  tail 
Came  out  clear  plates  of  sapphire  mail. 

"He  dried  his  wings;  like  gauze  they  grew. 
Thro'  crofts  and  pastures  wet  with  dew, 
A  living  flash  of  light  he  flew. ' ' 


Fig.  59— Red-eyed  Vireo. 

Vireo  olivaceus  L. 


192  A  NATURE   WOOING. 

Once  again  I  sit  in  the  threshold  of  the  deserted 
cabin  in  the  pine  woods.  The  sensitive  brier, 
Schrarikia  horridula  Michx.,  with  its  prickly  pros- 
trate stems,  grows  in  clumps  around  the  cabin.  Here 
also  are  two  species  of  handsome  yellow  Composite, 
showing  the  full  beauty  of  their  first  spring  blooms. 
The  little  ground  doves,  paired  for  life,  run  in  the 
sandy  pathway  which  leads  away  from  the  cabin  door- 
way. The  sun,  master  of  all,  shines  brightly  o'er  me 
as  I  write.  'Tis  a  perfect  April  day,  mild  in  tempera- 
ture, balmy  of  breeze. 

The  field  naturalist  should  ever  seek  new  environ- 
ments, look  in  new  places,  turn  over  new  logs,  pull 
the  bark  from  new  dead  snags,  cast  aside  the  gloomy 
thoughts  of  what  he  is  or  what  he  may  be,  and  live 
and  dream  only  of  the  sunny,  joyous  present.  Would 
that  I  could  practice  each  day  what  I  say  unto  my- 
self, "That  should  I  do."  By  turning  to  one  side 
and  visiting  a  nook  of  these  woods  isolated  from  the 
main  tract,  I  have  found  this  morning  a  pair  of  small 
brown  Tryxalid  locusts,  Macneillia  obscura  Scudd., 
of  which  but  four  specimens,  from  Fort  Keed,  Flor- 
ida, have  heretofore  been  known.  ISTear  them  I  take 
also  two  females  of  an  undescribed  allied  form.  It  is 
an  EriUttiXj  four-fifths  of  -an  inch  in  length ;  brown, 
with  an  ivory  white  median  line  two  mm.  wide  ex- 
tending from  the  tip  of  the  fastigium  to  the  end  of 
elytra.  I  shall  call  it  E.  sylvestrus — meaning  "of  the 


THE  DOG'S  HEAD  BUTTERFLY.  193 

woods."    Thus  have  I  been  rewarded  for  visiting  this 
nook. 

On  my  way  home  I  capture  the  male  of  a  dog's  head 
butterfly,  Colias  coesonia  Stoll,  fresh  from  its  winter 


Fig.  60— Dog's  Head  Butterfly. 

(After  French.) 


chrysalis.  The  yellow  portion  of  the  upper  surface  of 
the  front  wing  is  so  surrounded  with  black  as  to  re- 
semble a  dog's  head,  the  discal  dot  of  black  answering 
for  an  eye.  His  is  a  wide  range.  'Neath  the  tropical 
sun  of  Mexico,  the  temperate  sky  of  Indiana  and  the 
blue  of  the  Florida  ether  I  have  seen  him  winging  his 
onward  way  and  have  added  him  to  my  treasures. 

April  11,  1899. — I  am  sitting  as  I  write,  on  a 
branch  or  fork  of  an  old  live  oak  near  the  center  of 
the  mound  of  shells.  At  my  right  the  roadway,  sere 
and  brown  with  fallen  leaves,  leads  onward  between 
rows  of  tall  palmettos  and  lofty  pines.  On  and  on 

13 


194  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

it  goes,  as  far  as  eye  can  reach,  forming  one  of  the 
most  pleasing  vistas  among  the  noteworthy  scenes  of 
this  fair  land.  Two  miles  beyond  this  mound  the 
road  reaches  the  end  of  the  "Old  Causeway/'  that 
portion  of  the  old  St.  Augustine  trail  which  was  con- 
structed across  the  broad  marsh  by  the  Spanish  or 
English  planters,  to  enable  them  to  reach  the  ferry 
at  "Buckhead  Bluff"  on  the  Tomoka.  The  Cause- 
way passes,  for  part  of  its  way,  along  the  bank  of 
Thompson's  Creek,  a  tributary  of  the  Tomoka.  The 
still,  deep  waters  of  this  stream  are  said  to  be  well 
stocked  with  black  and  channel  bass,  sea  trout  and 
other  forms  of  game  fish,  while  alligators,  musquash 
and  otter  dwell  along  its  shores. 

As  I  sit  here  my  thoughts  revert  to  the  race  of  old 
— prehistoric — ante-red-man — a  people  of  whom  we 
know  little  or  nothing,  who  at  one  time  resided  here. 
Through  these  forest  glades,  when  returning  from 
the  chase,  their  cries  of  triumph  were  echoed.  Here 
in  a  land  of  sunshine  their  wants  were  few  and  easily 
satisfied;  their  ambitions  lowly,  their  hopes  eternal. 
Hunger  and  thirst  only  did  they  have  to  allay.  All 
else  was  theirs  for  the  seeking.  Did  they  need  shelter, 
the  leaves  of  the  palmetto  furnished  it  in  plenty. 
Food,  the  waves  of  the  ocean  brought  it  to  their  feet. 
Theirs  but  to  love,  woo,  mate,  beget  their  prog- 
eny and  die.  A  happy,  contented  people  they  must 
have  been.  Had  not  other  and  stronger  races  found 
them  out,  coveted  their  possessions  and  made  success- 


PL  XII. 


A  PORTION  OF  THE  OLD  CAUSEWAY. 

Showing  the  rows  of  Cabbage  Palmettos  along  its  borders. 


FAREWELL,  0,  ORMOND.  195 

ful  war  upon  them,  here  still  they  might  be  found, 
ignorant,  innocent,  contented,  and  for  that  innocence 
and  contentment  to  be  envied  by  such  as  we — we 
who  profess  to  be  wise  and  therefore  ever  live  in  an 
envious  frame  of  mind,  possessed  of  a  discontented 
soul. 

'Tis  afternoon,  and  for  the  last  time  I  sit  beside  iny 
pine  tree,  whose  crown  each  dawn  doth  greet  the  first 
ray  of  the  rising  sun.  For  the  last  time  I  have  been 
through  the  old  orange  orchard  seeking  therein  what 
I  might  find.  For  the  last  time  I  have  trodden  the 
woodland  path  which  leads  by  the  vacant  house. 
Many  times  during  the  past  five  weeks  have  I  passed 
along  these  pathways.  Many  times  have  I  sat  where 
I  now  am,  with  my  head,  aweary,  resting  against  the 
pine.  From  to-day  on,  perhaps  forever,  I  am  a 
stranger  to  this  land.  From  to-day  on  its  sun  will 
shine  as  brightly,  its  breezes  blow  as  balmily,  its  pines 
nod  as  gracefully  and  its  surf  roar  as  soothingly,  but 
they  will  bring  not  peace  nor  contentment  to  my  soul, 
nor  health  and  strength  to  my  body.  A  long  farewell 
to  thee,  O,  Ormond  by  the  Sea ! 


A  DAY  ON  THE  UPPER  ST.  JOHN'S 
RIVER. 


"  Rivers  are  the  constant  lure,  when  they  flow  by  our  doors,  to  distant 
enterprise  and  adventure.  *  *  *  *  They  are  the  natural  highways  of 
all  nations,  not  only  leveling  the  ground  and  removing  obstacles  from 
the  path  of  the  traveler,  quenching  his  thirst  and  bearing  him  on  Iheir 
bosoms,  but  conducting  him  through  the  most  interesting  scenery,  *  *  ''•' 
and  where  the  animal  and  vegetable  kingdoms  attain  their  greatest  per- 
fection ."—  Thoreau. 

'  The  St.  John's  stands  unique  among  the  rivers  of 
America  in  that  its  headwaters  are  on  a  level  but 
about  six  feet  above  that  of  the  Atlantic  whose  coast 
it  parallels.  Again,  its  general  course  is  northerly, 
so  that  in  ascending  the  river  one  is  traveling  south- 
ward. It  drains  the  eastern  portion  of  the  northern 
half  of  Florida,  traversing  a  low,  sandy  region,  but 
following  a  very  winding  course  so  that  its  extreme 
length  is  about  300  miles.  In  its  upper  third,  or  from 
its  mouth  to  Palatka,  where  I  boarded  the  steamer  for 
my  trip  along  its  upper  course,  the  appearance  of  the 
river  is  that  of  a  wide  inlet  from  the  sea.  It  is  here 
a  tide-water  stream,  in  places  two  or  three  miles  in 
width,  and  with  straight  stretches  of  sufficient  length 
to  give  a  water  horizon.  Above  Palatka  it  gradually 
narrows,  until  at  the  outlet  of  Lake  Monroe  its 
breadth  is  reduced  to  one  hundred  and  fiftv  feet. 


(196) 


vAl-v    * 

•  **0«X'     **;-   '    '<''    •'•!•»''' 1'1\^''.f'-  *  ,4?^*.         \," "~  L 

•:'|t-^w\lHVv    ,.v^A;':\vr1^<V^\.1>.»  *  *     %  ^\^» 


Q    -j 


: 


8| 

15 
1 


HEADWATERS  OF  THE  ST.  JOHN'S.  197 

Three  enlargements,  termed  lakes,  are  traversed  by 
the  river.  The  lower  and  larger  of  these  is  Lake 
George,  about  forty  miles  above  Palatka,  which  has 
an  extreme  length  of  thirteen  miles,  and  a  breadth  of 
six  to  eight  miles.  The  others,  Lakes  Monroe  and 
Harney,  are  a  little  less  than  half  this  size.  At  pres- 
ent the  larger  river  steamers  ascend  only  to  San- 
ford  and  Enterprise  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Monroe. 

Besides  the  lakes  mentioned,  through  which  the 
river  passes,  a  number  of  others  of  considerable  size 
lie  a  few  miles  distant  from  it,  and  their  overflow- 
ing waters  enter  its  channel  through  tributaries.  The 
chief  ones  of  these  are  Dunn's  Lake,  Lake  Dexter, 
Lake  Beresford  and  Lake  Jessup. 

The  headwaters  of  the  St.  John's,  according  to 
Prof.  Wyman,  are  ain  Lakes  Washington,  Winder 
and  Poinsett  and  the  adjoining  swamps  south  of  these, 
to  which  must  be  added  the  swamps  between  the 
lakes  just  mentioned  and  Lake -Harney,  all  of  which 
together  have  an  area  of  several  hundred  square 
miles,  and  form  great  reservoirs  in  which  the  summer 
rains  are  collected.  These  head  waters  are  separated 
by  low  land,  rising  but  little  above  their  level,  from  an 
extensive  chain  of  lakes  which  have  an  outlet  south- 
ward into  the  Kissimmee  and  thence  into  the  great 
lake  of  Okeechobee.  When  the  river  is  at  its  highest 
level,  just  after  the  rainy  season,  it  is  said  that  the 
sources  of  the  two  rivers  flowing  north  and  south,  viz., 


198  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

the  St.  John's  and  the  Kissimmee,  come  so  near  to- 
gether as  almost  to  communicate. 

"The  river  has  its  annual  rise  and  fall,  which  occur 
with  great  regularity.  The  maximum  rainfall  over 
its  basin  is  in  June,  July  and  August,  when  it 
amounts,  along  the  head  waters,  to  about  twenty 
inches  for  the  three  months,  and  the  least  is 
in  December,  January  and  February,  when  it 
does  not  exceed  six  inches  for  the  same  pe- 
riod. During  the  rainy  season  the  reservoirs  of 
the  St.  John's,  consisting  of  the  combined  lakes 
and  swamps  already  noticed,  as  well  as  those  of  the 
Oklawaha,  in  the  aggregate  having  a  surface  of 
many  hundreds  of  square  miles,  receive  immense 
quantities  of  water,  which  are  gradually  discharged 
through  these  two  rivers.  In  consequence  of  the 
slight  difference  of  level  existing  between  the  river 
and  its  shores  a  somewhat  extensive  inundation  takes 
place  in  its  middle  portion. 

"The  high  level  of  the  river  is  maintained  for  a 
time  by  the  steady  outflow  from  the  reservoirs,  but  in 
the  course  of  the  spring  the  water  recedes,  leaving 
behind  deposits  of  mud,  remnants  of  aquatic  plants, 
and  various  kinds  of  drift  material,  all  of  which  are 
gradually  converting  the  swamps  into  dry  land." 

April  12,  1899. — I  awaken  at  5  o'clock,  after  a 
night  of  fitful  slumber,  on  board  the  "City  of  Jack- 
sonville,"* a  river  steamer  plying  between  Jack- 

!:'I  had  taken  the  boat  at  Palatka  at  ten  o'clock  the  evening  before. 


MORNING  ON  THE  RIVER.  199 

sonville  and  Sanford.  Hurriedly  dressing  and  don- 
ning an  overcoat  as  a  protection  against  the  cool 
and  bracing  air,  I  make  my  way  to  the  forward 
deck.  The  sun,  just  peering  above  the  horizon, 
is  beginning  to  scatter  the  few  wisps  of  mist  which 
linger  along  the  banks  of  the  river.  I  ascertain  from 
a  deck  hand  that  we  have  just  left  Astor,  a  landing 
about  ten  miles  above  Lake  George.  The  stream, 
here  about  one  hundred  yards  wide,  winds  its  way 
between  densely  wooded  banks.  The  timber  is  mostly 
hard  wood;  oak,  elm,  sweet-gum,  hickory,  cypress, 
bay,  etc.,  all  more  or  less  encumbered  with  the  swing- 
ing tufts  of  gray  Spanish  moss.  Occasionally  a  palm, 
tall  and  stately,  rises  amidst  the  other  trees,  or  a  grove 
of  them  covers  some  dike  along  the  shore,  their  pres- 
ence adding  much  to  the  semi-tropical  aspect  of  the 
scene. 

At  times  a  bittern,  Botaurus  lentiginosus  Montag., 
is  flushed,  rising  with  a  "quawk"  and  winging  its  way 
before  us  to  some  sheltered  cove.  Blue  herons  are 
common,  and  occasionally  as  the  prow  of  the  boat 
turns  a  bend  a  snake-bird,  Anhinga  anhinga  L.,  with 
long  and  slender  neck,  arises  and  flies  up  some  inlet 
or  high  over  the  bordering  forest.  The  range  of  this 
bird  is  through  tropical  and  semi-tropical  America 
north  to  southern  Illinois,  and  casually  to  Indiana  and 
Michigan.  According  to  Bartram  it  was  formerly 
very  common  on  the  St.  John's,  but  like  many  other 
of  the  rarer  birds  and  mammals  has  been  driven  to 


200 


A  NATURE  WOOING, 


the  more  retired  creeks  and  lagoons  by  the  senseless 
warfare  of  shot-gun  and  rifle  waged  upon  them  from 

the  decks  of  the  river 
steamers.  In  his 
"Travels"  Bartram 
has  noted  its  pres- 
ence along  the  St. 
John's  in  the  follow- 
ing language:  "There 
is  in  this  river  and  in 
the  waters  all  over 
Florida,  a  very  curi- 
ous and  handsome 
species  of  bird;  the 
people  call  them 
Snake  Birds ;  I  think  I  have  seen  paintings  of  them  on 
the  Chinese  screens  and  other  India  pictures.  They 
seem  to  be  a  species  of  cormorant  or  loon,  but  far 
more  beautiful  and  delicately  formed  than  any  other 
species  that  I  have  ever  seen.  The  head  and  neck  of 
this  bird  are  extremely  small  and  slender,  the  latter 
very  long,  indeed,  almost  out  of  all  proportion ;  the 
bill  long,  straight  and  slender,  tapering  from  its  ball 
to  a  sharp  point ;  all  the  upper  side,  the  abdomen  and 
thighs,  are  as  black  and  glossy  as  a  raven's,  covered 
with  feathers  so  firm  and  elastic  that  they  in  some 
degree  resemble  fish  scales.  The  breast  and  upper 
part  of  the  belly  are  covered  with  feathers  of  a  cream 


Fig.  61— Snake  Bird. 


THE  SNAKE  BIRD.  201 

color,  the  tail  is  very  long,  of  a  deep  black,  and  tipped 
with  a  silvery  white,  and  when  spread,  represents  an 
unfurled  fan.  They  delight  to  sit  in  little  peaceable 
communities,  on  the  dry  limbs  of  trees,  hanging  over 
the  still  waters,  with  their  wings  and  tails  expanded,  I 
suppose  to  cool  and  air  themselves  when  at  the  same 
time  they  behold  their  images  in  the  watery  mirror. 
At  such  times,  when  we  approach  them,  they  drop 
off  the  limbs  into  the  water  as  if  dead,  and  for  a  min- 
ute or  two  are  not  to  be  seen ;  when,  on  a  sudden,  at  a 
vast  distance,  their  long,  slender  head  and  neck  only 
appear  and  have  very  much  the  appearance  of  a  snake 
and  no  other  part  of  them  is  to  be  seen  when  swim- 
ming in  the  water,  except  sometimes  the  tip  end  of 
their  tail.  In  the  heat  of  the  day  they  are  seen  in 
great  numbers,  sailing  very  high  in  the  air,  over  lakes 
and  rivers. 

"I  doubt  not  but  if  this  bird  had  been  an  inhabitant 
of  the  Tiber  in  Ovid's  days,  it  would  have  furnished 
him  with  a  subject  for  some  beautiful  and  entertain- 
ing metamorphoses.  I  believe  it  feeds  entirely  on 
fish,  for  its  flesh  smells  and  tastes  intolerably  strong 
of  it ;  it  is  scarcely  to  be  eaten  unless  constrained  by 
insufferable  hunger."* 

Turning  one  of  the  many  bends  of  the  river  a  low, 
flat  tract  of  land  comes  into  view,  stretching  miles 
away  to  the  left.  It  is  covered  with  a  species  of  saw 

*Loc.cit.,  p.  130. 


202  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

grass  which  grows  so  densely  that  stock  can  not  pene- 
trate it.  Accessible  to  man  only  when  he  cuts  his 
pathway  before  him,  it  is  said  to  be  inhabited  by 
snakes,  raccoons,  'possums  and  marsh  rabbits.  The 
soil  of  this  and  many  similar  tracts  is  a  rich  vegetable 
muck,  but  will  be  wholly  worthless  until  the  time 
comes,  if  it  ever  does,  when  the  St.  John's  will  be 
drained  out  to  the  sea,  eighteen  to  thirty  miles  to  the 
eastward. 

The  first  stop  after  dawn  is  at  St.  Francis,  which 
occupies  a  strip  of  somewhat  higher  ground,  and  is 
composed  of  a  dozen  or  more  large  frame  houses 
located  some  distance  back  from  the  landing.  A  dead 
orange  grove  takes  up  much  of  the  space  about  the 
town.  Numerous  sacks  of  corn  and  other  freight  are 
unloaded  and  several  deck  passengers  disembark.  On 
consulting  a  folder,  I  find  that  these  passengers,  who 
have  been  up  all  night,  pay  $1.00  each  from  Jackson- 
ville to  St.  Francis  and  points  beyond  to  Sanford, 
while  cabin  passengers  pay  $3.50,  including  meals  and 
berth. 

At  several  places  along  the  banks  large  barges  are 
moored  on  which  stationary  engines  are  standing. 
About  the  barges  are  immense  rafts  of  cypress  and 
other  trees.  I  am  informed  that  lumber  companies 
from  the  north  have  recently  bought  up  great  tracts 
of  timber  bordering  the  river.  The  engines  are  used 
to  "snake"  or  drag  out  the  logs,  sometimes  from  a 
half  mile  back  from  the  water.  The  rafts,  when 


SOME  FLORIDA  ENTERPRISES.  203 

completed,  are  then  floated  down  the  stream  to  saw- 
mills located  convenient  to  railways. 

A  gentleman  from  Ocala  tells  me  that  much  money 
is  made  in  Central  Florida  by  raising  cattle,  which  are 
allowed  to  run  wild.  A  three-year-old  steer  brings 
$20  and  costs  nothing  except  the  expense  of  an  occa- 
sional round-up.  All  cultivated  land  is  fenced,  and 
the  remainder,  forming  the  range,  is  free  to  all.  For 
cattle  or  cows  killed  by  railways  the  owners  receive 
$12  each.  Another  gentleman  avers  that  the  tur- 
pentine business  is  the  only  paying  one  in  Florida. 
Good  tracts  of  the  long-leaved  pine  which  yields  the 
turpentine  can  be  bought  for  $1.50  per  acre.  With 
a  capital  of  $5,000  to  invest,  a  man,  if  possessed  of 
sufficient  energy,  can  become  wealthy  in  a  few  years. 

Stops  are  made  at  Crow's  Bluff  and  Hawkinsyille, 
both  small  towns  on  strips  of  high  land  adjoining  the 
river.  The  pilot  of  the  boat  is  a  negro.  He  and  his 
assistant,  a  boy  who  is  evidently  learning  the  river, 
have  hard  work  rounding  some  of  the  abrupt  bends, 
especially  above  the  inlet  from  Beresf ord  Lake,  where 
the  river  contracts  in  places  to  but  little  more  than 
one  hundred  feet  in  width.  The  boat,  a  very  large 
one,  moves  slowly  along  these  narrow  stretches  with 
little  shaking  or  appreciable  motion,  though  the 
engine  heaves,  pants  and  emits  great  volumes  of 
smoke  when  rounding  the  bends. 

Where  the  cabbage  palmetto  stands  close  to  the 
water  the  stem  rises  from  a  great  conical  mass  of 


204  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

fibrous  roots,  ten  feet  in  circumference  and  three  or 
four  feet  above  the  water's  level.  These  root  masses 
resemble  haycocks,  with  the  tall,  straight  stem  rising 
from  their  apex — a  stem  devoid  of  branch,  devoid  of 
bark  and  with  only  a  tuft  of  leaves  at  the  top — most 
striking  of  the  vegetable  kingdom  along  the  river 
when  growing  thus. 

An  aquatic  plant  which  is  exceedingly  abundant  in 
all  the  inlets  and  bays  opening  into  the  upper  two- 
thirds  of  the  St.  John's,  as  well  as  bordering  the 
shores  everywhere  along  its  slower  flowing  stretches, 
is  the  water  hyacinth,  Piaropus  crassipes  Mart.  It  is 
a  native  of  tropical  South  America,  and  on  account 
of  its  clusters  of  handsome,  light  blue  flowers,  was 
introduced  into  the  southern  United  States.  Here  it 
has  flourished  so  freely  that  it  has  become  a  serious 
menace  to  navigation ;  so  much  so,  indeed,  that  it  has 
been  the  subject  of  special  legislation  by  Congress, 
and  has  been  treated  in  a  special  bulletin  of  the  U.  S. 
Division  of  Botany.* 

The  plant  is  aquatic  and  is  usually  found  floating 
on  the  surface  of  the  water.  The  roots  may,  however, 
attach  themselves  to  the  soft  mud  along  the  banks 
and  the  plant  thus  become  fixed.  In  such  a  location, 
however,  they  are  usually  dwarfed  in  size,  and  if  the 
soil  becomes  comparatively  dry  the  plants  will  soon 
die. 


*"The  Water  Hyacinth  and  its  Relation  to  Navigation  in  Florida." 
Bull.  No.  18,  U.  S.  Division  of  Botany,  1897. 


A  TROUBLESOME  PLANT. 


205 


The  leaves  of  the  water  hyacinth  form  a  rosette  a 
foot  or  more  in  height  which  remains  above  the  water 
as  the  plant  floats.  The  basal  portions  of  the  leaves  of 


Fig.  62— Water  Hyacinth. 

(From  Bull.  18,  U.  3.  Dir.  Bot.)- 


206  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

young  plants  are  swollen  into  bulbs  which  contain  air 
cavities.  These  serve  as  buoys  to  keep  the  plant  above 
water  and  prevent  it  from  being  overturned  by  wind 
or  waves.  The  leaves,  flowering  stems  and  roots  of 
the  old  plants  become  so  thoroughly  matted  together 
that  they  are  with  difficulty  torn  apart,  and  are  there- 
fore in  no  danger  of  overturning.  The  roots  form  a 
dense  fibrous  .mass,  often  two  feet  in  length,  which  is 
submerged  and  absorbs  food  from  the  water.  The 
plant  flourishes  best  in  sluggish  fresh-water  streams 
whose  water  is  yellowish  or  brownish  from  the  pres- 
ence of  an  excess  of  organic  matter.  It  will  not  live 
in  salt  or  brackish  water,  and  though  floated  down  in 
large  patches  into  the  lower  third  of  the  St.  John's, 
it  there  soon  dies. 

The  plant  was  introduced  into  the  St.  John's  about 
1890  at  Edgewater,  four  miles  above  Palatka.  The 
refuse  from  a  pond,  in  which  it  had  been  cultivated, 
was  dumped  into  the  river,  and  the  hyacinth  finding 
the  slow-flowing,  turbid  water  in  every  way  suited  to 
its  needs  entered  on  a  stage  of  rapid  growth  and  re- 
production unprecedented  in  its  history.  In  time  it 
almost  wholly  blocked  the  river  above  the  railway 
bridge  at  Palatka.  Small  boats  with  screw  propellers 
found  it  impossible  to  penetrate  a  large  mass  of  the 
plants,  as  the  latter  became  entangled  in  the  screw 
and  prevented  it  from  turning.  Large  steamers  going 
at  full  speed  come  almost  to  a  standstill  when  they 
strike  a  floating  mass  of  the  hyacinths.  Floating  logs 


A  FISH  STORY.  207 

and  other  obstructions  are  often  hidden  among  the 
plants  and  are  struck  by  the  boats.  It  is  also  esti- 
mated that  lumbermen  along  the  upper  courses  of  the 
river  have  been  damaged  to  an  extent  of  $50,000  an- 
nually by  the  increased  difficulty  in  rafting  caused  by 
the  presence  of  the  plant.  The  smaller  tributaries  in 
which  the  rafts  are  often  formed  have  become  so 
choked  that  they  are  useless  for  the  purpose  of  form- 
ing and  floating  the  rafts. 

As  our  own  steamer  moves  slowly  onward  the  suc- 
tion, caused  by  the  water  rushing  in  to  fill  the  partial 
vacuum  of  the  wake  at  the  stern  of  the  boat,  breaks 
off  large  masses  of  the  hyacinth,  and  causes  them  to 
move  towards  the  center  of  the  stream.  Small  col- 
onies, perchance  a  single  plant,  come  floating  by,  mov- 
ing onward  like  a  fairy  boat,  buoyed  up  by  the 
sponge-like  air-filled  bulbs.  Innocent  and  worthy  of 
admiration  are  they  when  thus  seen  singly,  but  a 
veritable  scourge  when  present  in  vast  numbers. 

At  intervals  I  see  cows  and  cattle  along  the  edges 
of  the  marshes  close  to  the  river,  their  bodies  im- 
mersed to  above  the  middle  of  their  sides,  as  they 
browse  upon  the  floating  aquatic  mosses,  hyacinths, 
etc.  A  passenger,  on  seeing  them,  states  that  it  is  a 
common  thing  for  the  cows  in  this  section  of  the 
State  to  dive  for  mosses  and  while  so  doing  to  impale 
a  number  of  fish  on  their  horns.  When  they  go 
home  at  night  the  children  remove  the  fish  and  pre- 
pare them  for  supper,  while  the  mother  milks  the 


208 


A  NATURE  WOOING. 


cows,  the  bovin-es  thus  furnishing  both  flesh  and  milk 
for  the  family  meal.  Another  passenger  asserts  that 
"The  Lord  made  the  earth  in  six  days,  and,  when 
Florida  was  but  half  finished,  rested  on  the  seventh. 
He  then  forgot  to  complete  his  work."  One  can  not 

vouch  for  the  accuracy  of 
either  statement. 

Turning  a  sharp  bend, 
we  surprise  a  bald  eagle 
with  plumage  worn  and 
soiled,  sitting  with  a  half 
dozen  carrion  crows  on 
some  limbs  near  a  fisher- 
man's hut.  The  waters 
displaced  by  the  boat 
move  in  immense  waves 
rapidly  shoreward  and 

dash  with  force  against  the  banks,  swamping  several 
rowboats  there  moored. 

Just  above  the  J.,  T.  &  K.  W.  Railway  bridge  the 
river,  whose  course  is  here  almost  due  east,  expands 
into  Lake  Monroe,  a  fine  body  of  water,  about  six 
miles  in  length  by  four  in  breadth.  On  the  right,  or 
south  shore  is  Sanford,  a  typical  southern  town  of 
2,100  population;  while  on  the  left  or  northern  shore 
is  Enterprise,  a  rival  though  smaller  place.  Before 
the  1895  freeze,  which  killed  all  the  orange  groves  of 
this  region,  Sanford  was  more  prosperous  than  now. 
This  freeze  disheartened  for  a  time  the  citizens  of 


Fig.  63— Bald  Eagle. 


AT  SAUFORD.  209 

the  town,  but  they  are  now  beginning  to  engage  in 
other  enterprises  and  the  place  bids  fair  to  soon  re- 
cover its  wonted  activity  of  the  "days  before  the 
freeze." 

While  the  steamer,  which  is  two  hours  behind  time, 
is  discharging  and  taking  on  freight,  I  take  a  stroll 
about  several  of  the  streets.  The  sidewalks  I  note 
are  mostly  of  comminuted  shells,  and  inquiry  devel- 
ops that  they  come  from  two  shell  mounds,  each 
about  three  miles  distant,  one  near  the  head  of  the 
lake,  the  other  near  the  railway  bridge  above  men- 
tioned. The  shells  are  seemingly  all  fresh  water  spe- 
cies, mainly  of  the  genera  Ampullaria  and  Paludina. 

The  small  buzzards  or  "carrion  crows"  are  com- 
mon on  the  house-tops  of  Sanford,  while  ground 
doves  are  almost  as  plentiful  in  the  streets  as  are 
English  sparrows  in  the  northern  towns. 

The  steamer  takes  on  many  immense  bales  of  pal- 
metto fiber,  which  has  been  separated  from  the  trunks 
of  the  cabbage  palmetto  by  a  large  factory  located  in 
Sanford  near  the  river.  Numerous  barges  are  un- 
loading at  this  factory  sections  of  the  upper  fifteen  or 
twenty  feet  of  the  trunks  of  this  tree.  Leaving  San- 
ford the  steamer  makes  its  way  across  to  Enterprise, 
where,  after  discharging  a  miscellaneous  lot  of  freight 
and  loading  the  household  furniture  of  two  or  three 
families  of  negroes,  it  starts  on  the  return  trip. 

At  Blue  Springs  Landing,  which  is  but  twelve  miles 
from  ISTew  Smyrna,  an  important  town  on  the  Atlan- 

14 


210  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

tic  coast,  a  large  spring  of  clear  blue  water  wells  up 
from  a  basin.  A  railway  runs  from  here  to  New 
Smyrna,  and  much  freight  is  brought  here  by  river 
on  account  of  the  cheaper  transportation.  Among  it 
to-day  is  an  immense  amount  of  baled  hay  from  the 
north.  At  Crow's  Bluff  the  steamer  is  flagged,  and, 
on  making  the  landing,  a  barrel  of  alligator  skins  is 
loaded,  that  being  the  sole  incentive  for  the  stop.  The 
bluff  is  but  a  bank,  whose  surface  is  six  feet  above 
the  level  of  the  water.  A  turpentine  camp  is  the  prin- 
cipal thing  in  sight. 

A  short  distance  below  the  bluff  a  large  alligator 
is  seen  to  plunge  headlong  into  the  water  from  the 
bank  where  he  has  been  basking.  An  hour  after- 
ward, or  about  mid-afternoon,  when  the  air  has  be- 
come warm  and  the  sun  shines  bright,  they  begin  to 
be  frequent.  Sometimes  a  dozen  or  more  are  seen 
swimming  near  the  bank,  their  heads  and  crests 
just  visible  above  the  turbid  water.  Others  are 
stretched  out  on  the  level  bank  in  some  favorite  sun- 
ning spot.  However,  they  have  been  fired  at  so  much 
from  steamers  that  they  usually  plunge  into  the 
water  long  before  we  get  close  enough  for  a  good 
view. 

The  reflections  of  the  trees  and  other  objects  along 
shore  in  the  dark  water  are  most  pleasing  in  the 
bright  sunlight.  Every  twig,  every  spray  of  pendent 
moss,  every  clump  of  grass  and  bunch  of  hanging 
fibrous  roots  is  plainly  portrayed.  Where  the  tree 


REFLECTIONS  IN  THE  WATER.  211 

bends  over  the  water  the  tips  of  the  festoons  of  moss 
in  air  seem  to  almost  meet  those  in  water.  Leaning 
over  the  steamer's  rail  and  gazing  down  one  sees,  as 
it  were,  a  new  world  beneath  him,  and  is  tempted  at 
times  to  leap  overboard  into  the  midst  of  the  entranc- 
ing scene.  A  lazy  kind  of  life  this,  whiling  away  the 
sunny  hours  watching  for  alligators  from  a  steamer's 
deck  and  gazing  upon  the  reflections  in  the  waters 
deep  and  dark. 

A  few  miles  farther  and  the  river  begins  to  widen 
out  into  great  bayous  or  lagoons  of  still,  shallow 
water,  in  which  the  yellow  pond  lily,  or  spatterdock, 
NupJiar  advena  Ait.,  and  the  water  hyacinth  are  en- 
gaged in  a  deadly  struggle  for  existence.  In  general 
the  waters  in  the  main  channel  of  the  St.  John's  are 
deep,  seldom  less  than  fifteen  feet,  and  in  many  places' 
exceeding  ninety  feet,  so  that  with  a  skillful  pilot, 
boats  of  large  size  have  little  if  any  difficulty  in  navi- 
gating the  stream.  The  current  is  everywhere  slug- 
gish, being  only  about  a  mile  and  a  half  an  hour. 
Eight  steamers  ply  regularly  up  and  down  the  river 
and  its  main  tributary,  the  Oklawaha,  carrying  mail, 
freight  and  passengers.  Easy  means  of  transporta- 
tion and  low  freight  rates  are  thus  accorded  all  points 
along  the  stream. 

At  Astor  is  located  a  factory  for  separating  tannic 
acid  from  the  large,  thick  root-stocks  or  underground 
stems  of  the  saw  palmetto.  Hundreds  of  cords  of 
these  root-stocks  are  piled  up  along  the  shore.  The 


212  A  NATURE  WOOING. 

town  is  of  small  size,  and  is  noted  only  as  being  one  of 
the  terminals  of  the  St.  John's  &  Lake  Eustice  Rail- 
way. 

Volusia,  the  next  stop,  is  almost  across  the  river. 
It  was  once  the  county  seat  of  the  county  of  the  same 
name,  but  it  is  now  an  almost  deserted  place.  A 
climbing  rose  bush,  in  the  full  glory  of  its  blossoming 
tide  is  the  most  conspicuous  object.  The  boat 
stops  here  long  enough  to  allow  a  grocer  to  count 
out  twenty  dozen  eggs,  which  he  wishes  to  send  to 
Jacksonville. 

A  half  hour  after  leaving  Volusia  we  enter  Lake 
George  through  a  dredged  channel  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  in  length.  Piles  are  sunk  on  each  side  of  this 
channel  to  retard  as  much  as  possible  its  filling  with 
the  debris  brought  down  by  the  river.  This  lake  is 
the  largest  expansion  of  this  remarkable  stream.  It 
is  a  pleasing  body  of  water,  thirteen  miles  in  length 
from  north  to  south,  and  about  nine  miles  in  greatest 
width.  Before  we  reach  the  outlet  at  the  northern 
end  the  shades  of  the  coming  night  envelop  us  and 
our  day  on  the  upper  St.  John's  is  at  an  end. 


APPENDIX. 


A  LIST  OF  THE  ODONATA  (DRAGONFLIES)  TAKEN  IN  THE  VICINITY 
OF  ORMOND,  FLORIDA,  IN  MARCH  AND  APRIL,  1899. 

While  searching  primarily  for  Orthoptera,  Diurnal 
Lepidoptera  and  Coleoptera,  such  specimens  of  Drag- 
onflies  were  taken  as  came  readily  to  hand.  These  were 
in  time  submitted  to  Mr.  E.  B.  Williamson,  of  Bluff- 
ton,  Ind.,  a  well  known  specialist  of  this  group,  who 
kindly  determined  them  for  me.  But  18  species  were 
found  to  be  represented  in  the  collection.  Many  oth- 
ers were  seen  but  not  captured.  The  species  are  doubt- 
less, there  as  elsewhere,  much  more  abundant  in  the 
summer  than  in  the  early  spring  months.  The  nomen- 
clature of  the  list  is  that  of  Banks'  "Catalogue 
of  the  I^europteroid  Insects  of  Temperate  Xorth 
America.'7* 

1.  Calopieryx    maculata    Beauv.      March    21st; 

April  1st,  common.     Ranges  throughout  the 
eastern  United  States. 

2.  Lestes  forcipata  Kamb.    March  7th.     Common. 

New  England  to  Colorado ;  south  to  Gulf  of 
Mexico. 


'•  Trans.  Amer.  Ent.  Soc.,  XIX,  1892. 
(213) 


214  APPENDIX. 

3.  Lestes  sp.?     Three  females  taken  March  6th, 

13th  and  15th,  respectively. 

4.  Argia    fumipennis    Burm.      Frequent    along 

streams  and  ditches  in  shady  places,  March 
27th;  April  10th.  Recorded  only  from  Ken- 
tucky, Georgia  and  Florida. 

5.  Argia  tibialis  Ramb.     With  the  preceding  on 

April  10th  only.  Ranges  from  Michigan  to 
Florida. 

6.  AnomalagrionhastatumSay.   Frequent  through- 

out the  month  of^March.  Ranges  from  north- 
ern Indiana  as  far  south  as  Venezuela  and  the 
West  Indies. 

7.  Anax  junius  Drury.  •  Common  from  March  6th 

on,  along  the  forest  roadways.  Throughout 
the  United  States  and  Canada. 

8.  Gomphceschna  furcillata  Say.     Frequent  after 

March  30th,  along  ditches  by  the  side  of  rail- 
way. Recorded  heretofore  from  Massachu- 
setts to  Michigan  and  south  to  Georgia. 

9.  JEschna  ing  ens  Ramb.     Common  from  March 

6th  on.  A  species  of  southern  range,  recorded 
only  from  the  Gulf  States. 

10.  Epiwschna  heros  Fab.     A  single  specimen  was 

taken  on  March  23rd.  Ranges  throughout 
the  eastern  United  States. 

11.  Tetragoneuria  cyanosura  Say.     A  single  speci- 

men was  taken  in  a  woodland  pathway  on 
March  6th.  It  occurs  throughout  the  eastern 
United  States. 


DRAGONFLIES.  215 

12.  Tramea  Carolina  Linn.      Very  common  from 

March  6th  on.  Frequents  the  forest  road- 
ways. Ranges  from  Massachusetts  to  Florida 
and  the  West  Indies. 

13.  Celithemis  eponina  Drury.    One  male  only  was 

taken  on  March  31st.  United  States  east  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains. 

14.  Libellula  axillena  West.    Several  taken  near  the 

end  of  March.  Not  common.  A  species 
whose  range,  as  far  as  known,  is  restricted  to 
the  Gulf  States. 

15.  Libellula   auripennis   Burm.      Common    after 

March  25th.  Atlantic  and  Gulf  States  south 
of  New  York. 

16.  Mesothemis  simplicollis  Say.     Frequent  from 

March  6th  on.     Occurs  in  all  the  region  east 

of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 
IT.     Pacliydiplax  longipennis  Burm.    Common  after 

March  llth.    Ranges  throughout  the  greater 

portion  of  the  United  States. 
18.     Diplacodes  minuscula  Rarnb.      Common  from 

March  7th  to  April  1st,  in  forest  roadways 

and  pathways,  where  they  hawk  close  to  the 

ground.     Occurs  from  Kentucky  to  the  Gulf. 


216  APPENDIX. 

A  LIST  OF  THE  ORTHOPTBRA  TAKEN  IN  THE  VICINITY  OF  ORMOND, 
FLORIDA,  IN  MARCH  AND  APRIL,  1899. 

During  my  stay  at  Ormond,  from  March  5th  to 
April  llth,  examples  of  thirty  species  of  Orthoptera 
were  collected.  The  young  of  numerous  others  were 
seen  but  not  taken.  There  is  little  doubt  but  that 
as  the  season  advances,  the  order  is  as  well  represented 
there  as  in  any  similar  region  in  the  south.  Those 
taken,  listed  according  to  Scudder's  "Catalogue  of  the 
Described  Orthoptera  of  the  United  States  and  Can- 
ada," were  as  follows: 

1.  Labia  burgessi  Scudd.    Numerous  examples  of 

this  small  brown  earwig  were  taken  from  be- 
neath the  bark  of  shrubs  and  logs  on  various 
occasions,  from  March  5th  on.  It  was  de- 
scribed from  Palatka,  Florida. 

2.  Ischnoptera  bolliana   Sauss.-Zehnt.      A   single 

male  of  this  species  was  taken  March  19th 
from  beneath  a  pile  of  weeds  along  the  edge 
of  the  Halifax  River  in  the  town  of  Ormond. 
It  has  been  recorded  heretofore  only  from 
Texas  and  New  Mexico. 

3.  Ischnoptera  unicolor  Scudd.     This  species  was 

common  from  March  17th  on,  beneath  the 
bark  of  pine  logs  and  stumps.  Its  range  in- 
cludes the  greater  portion  of  the  United 
States  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  It  is 
my  opinion,  based  on  numerous  observations 


ORTHOPTERA.  217 

made  in  the  field,  both  in  Indiana  and  Flor- 
ida, that  the  short-winged  species  known  as 
Temnopteryx  virginica  Brunn.  is  the  female 
of  Ischnoptera  unicolor.  The  two  forms  are 
mature  at  the  same  time,  and  are  usually 
found  associated  together,  but  I  have  never 
seen  a  female  of  the  long-winged  Ischnoptera 
or  a  male  of  the  form  known  as  T.  virginica. 
However,  I  have  never  seen  the  two  reputed 
species  in  coitu. 

4.  C eratinoptera  lutea  Sauss.-Zehnt.  Several  speci- 

mens of  this  small  yellow  roach  were  taken 
on  March  10th  and  later  dates  from  decaying 
palmetto  logs  and  beneath  rubbish  along  the 
borders  of  woodlands.  It  is  a  species  of  the 
Gulf  States. 

5.  Eurycotes  ing  ens  Scudd.     This  large  black,  ill- 

smelling  blattid  was  the  prevailing  roach 
about  Ormond,  being  very  common  beneath 
the  bark  of  logs,  stumps  and  dead  trees,  as 
well  as  beneath  rubbish  in  the  woodland.  The 
first  mature  specimens  were  taken  on  March 
10th.  The  young,  described  by  Scudder 
as  E.  sabaliana,  are  marked  with  yellow, 
which  disappears  in  the  mature  insect.  The 
species  has  been  recorded  by  Scudder  from 
various  localities  in  Florida. 

6.  Pycnoscelus   surinamensis   Linn.      Two   speci- 

mens beneath  bunches  of  hay,  March  23rd 


218  APPENDIX. 

and  April  4th.  Ranges  throughout  the  Gulf 
and  South  Atlantic  States. 

7.  Tettix  blatchleyi  Hancock.     Two  females  of  a 

Tettix  which  proved  to  be  new,  were  secured 
on  March  llth  and  April  9th,  respectively, 
from  damp,  sandy  places  along  a  roadside, 
west  of  Ormond.  With  the  other  grouse  lo- 
custs taken,  they  were  submitted  to  Dr.  J.  L. 
Hancock  of  Chicago,  and  by  him  described.* 
He  states  that  they  belong  to  the  T.  arenosus 
series  but  are  distinguished  from  arenosus 
and  allied  species  by  the  "slightly  more  ru- 
gose pronotum,  more  decidedly  compressed 
lateral  carinse,  and  the  compresso-narrowing 
behind  the  shoulders  of  the  dor  sum."  Dr. 
Hancock  states  that  a  specimen  from  New 
York,  in  the  collection  of  the  U.  S.  National 
Museum,  is  of  the  same  species. 

8.  Paratettix  rugosus  Scudd.     This  was  found  to 

be  a  common  species  along  roadsides  and 
about  the  borders  of  marshes  in  cultivated 
grounds  from  March  llth  on.  It  has  been 
recorded  from  Florida,  Nebraska  and  Old 
Mexico. 

9.  Tettigidea  lateralis  Say.    This  was  in  company 

with  and  even  more  common  than  the  preced- 
ing. Several  pairs  were  taken  in  coitu  on 
March  llth  and  April  9th.  It  ranges  from 


Tettigidae  of  North  America,  1902,  p.  91. 


OETHOPTERA.  219 

Florida  and  the  Gulf  States  north  to  Central 
Indiana  and  west  to  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

10.  Rhadinotatum   brevipenne   Thos.      A  curious, 

slender-bodied  Acridian,  quite  common  along 
the  borders  of  woodland  paths  and  old  fields 
on  clumps  of  wire  grass.  (See  ante,  p.  150.) 
It  has  been  recorded  heretofore  only  from  Ft. 
Reed  and  Orange,  Florida. 

11.  Eritettix  sylvestrus  sp.  nov.     A  medium-sized 

brown  and  yellow  species,  with  tegmina  only 
one-third  the  length  of  abdomen. 

Lateral  carinae  of  the  pronotum  moder- 
ately arcuate  just  before  the  middle.  Sup- 
plementary carinae  well  developed  on  both 
head  and  pronotum,  almost  as  strong  as  the 
median  carina,  and  connected  with  the  lat- 
ter, especially  on  the  head,  with  numerous 
small  cross  carinae,  thus  causing  that  por- 
tion of  the  disk  between  the  supplementary 
earinse  to  be  reticulate  in  appearance.  An- 
tennae with  basal  half  flattened;  the  apical 
half  gradually  tapering.  Tegmina  aborted; 
one-third  the  length  of  abdomen ;  inner  wings 
represented  by  very  small  and  narrow  pads. 

General  color  a  light  wood  brown;  the 
outer  face  of  hind  femora,  grayish  brown. 
A  bright  yellow  line  starts  from  vertex  and 
extends  backward  to  tips  of  tegmina,  covering 
the  space  between  supplementary  carinae  on 


220  APPENDIX. 

head  and  pronotum.  Disk  of  pronotum,  be- 
tween supplementary  and  lateral  carinse, 
darker  brown. 

Length  of  body,  female,  21mm.;  of  an- 
tennae, 6  mm. ;  of  pronotum,  4.5  mm. ;  of  teg- 
mina,  6  mm. ;  of  hind  femora,  12.5  mm. 

Two  females  from  open  pine  woods  on 
April  10th. 

12.  Macneillia  obscura  Scudd.     Two  examples  of 

this  little  known  species  were  taken  in  the 
open  pine  woods,  three  miles  west  of  Ormond, 
on  April  10th.  It  has  heretofore  been  known 
only  by  the  four  type  specimens  from  Ft. 
Reed,  Florida. 

13.  Amblytropidia,  occidentalis  Sauss.     This  was  a 

common  insect  throughout  my  stay  at  Or- 
mond, in  old  fields  and  deserted  orange 
orchards.  The  first  specimens  were  taken  on 
March  6th.  McNeill  gives  its  range  as  "the 
Gulf  States  north  to  Tennessee  and  Georgia 
and  west  to  Colorado  and  Arizona." 

14.  Arphia  granulata  Sauss.     This  species  was  also 

quite  frequent  and  found  in  the  same  locali- 
ties as  the  preceding.  Mature  specimens 
were  taken  March  6th,  and  it  may  be  possible 
that  it  winters  in  the  adult  stage.  It  has  been 
recorded  heretofore  from  Florida  and  Ne- 
braska. 


ORTHOPTERA.  221 

15.  Chortophaga  viridifasciata  De  Geer.     Common 

after  March  7th,  on  grassy  slopes  in  old  fields 
and  orchards.  The  median  carina  of  prono- 
tum  is  higher  and  the  mottling  of  green  and 
fuscous  much  more  pronounced  than  in  north- 
ern specimens.  Its  range  includes  the  United 
States  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

16.  Scirtettica  picta  Scudd.    This  handsome  species 

occurs  sparingly  on  bare  sandy  places  in  old 
fields  and  roads.  It  was  described  from  Flor- 
ida and  has  been  taken  at  several  points  in 
the  State. 

17.  Psinidia  fenestralis  Serv.     This  is  also  a  sand 

loving  species  and  was  frequently  taken  in 
company  with  the  preceding  after  March  7th. 
It  ranges  over  the  entire  eastern  United 
States. 

18.  Trimerotropis  cih*ina  Scudd.     One  female  was 

taken  on  March  12th,  from  a  sandy  roadside. 
~No  others  were  seen.  Its  range  is  given  by 
Scudder  as  Manitoba  to  Texas. 

19.  Dictyopliorus  reticuLatus  Thunb.     The  nymphs 

of  this  lubber  locust  were  abundant  on  weeds 
along  road&ides  and  pathways,  after  March 
20th.  It  probably  reaches  maturity  at  Or- 
mond  about  May  1st. 

20.  Scliistorcerca  americana  Drury.  Quite  frequent 

in  old  orchards  and  gardens  throughout  my 
stay.  Its  range  covers  the  United  States  east 
of  the  Great  Plains. 


222  APPENDIX. 

21.  Schistocerca  damnified  Sauss.    With  the  preced- 

ing and  more  common  after  March  llth.  It 
occurs  from  Pennsylvania  and  Illinois  south- 
ward. 

22.  Melanoplus  propinquus  McNeill.    The  males  of 

this,  the  southern  representative  of  the  north- 
ern M.  femur-rubrum,  made  their  first  ap- 
pearance on  March  16th;  the  females  on 
March  25th.  They  became  common  by  April 
5th,  frequenting  grassy  slopes  free  from  un- 
derbrush. It  is  so  far  known  only  from 
Florida. 

23.  Paroxya  atlantica  Scudd.    Numerous  examples 

of  this  trim-bodied  species  were  secured  on 
April  3rd  and  dates  thereafter  in  a  clearing 
in  the  low  hammock  region  west  of  Ormond. 
It  occurs  near  the  coast  in  Georgia  and 
Florida. 

24.  Aptenopedes  sphenarioides   Scudd.      Frequent 

from  March  7th  on,  in  old  orange  orchards 
and  cultivated  grounds.  It  lias  heretofore 
been  .recorded  only  from  Ft.  Keed  and  Jack- 
sonville, Florida. 

25.  Conocephalus    nietoi    Sauss.     Four    females, 

three  green,  one  brown,  were  taken  from  a 
species  of  tall  grass  in  orchards  and  clearings 
on  March  16th  and  April  2nd.  Heretofore 
it  has  been  known  only  from  Texas  and 
Louisiana. 


ORTHOPTERA.  223 

26.  Ailanticus  pachyme'rus  Bunn.    Several  nymphs 

of  this  locustid  were  secured  on  March  26th. 

27.  Gryllotalpa  borealis  Burm.     A  specimen  was 

brought  me  by  a  negro  on  March  20th.  He 
stated  that  it  is  very  common  about  the  bor- 
ders of  low,  cultivated  fields,  and  his  state- 
ment is  borne  out  by  the  number  of  runways 
I  noted. 

28.  Ellipes  minuta  Scudd.     On  March  30th  this 

little  burrowing  cricket  was  found  in  num- 
bers, in  company  with  the  grouse  locusts 
(Tettigirae)  in  a  low  spot  in  the  corner  of  a 
cultivated  hammock.  It  occurs  from  Min- 
nesota to  the  Gulf. 

29.  Nemobius  ambitiosus  Scudd.     This  handsome 

little  ground  cricket  was  common  in  open 
places  along  the  forest  roadways  during 
March  and  April.  It  was  described  from 
Ft.  Reed,  Florida,  and  I  can  find  no  other 
record  of  its  occurrence. 

30.  Gryllus  pennsylvanicus  Burm.     This  was  the 

only  field  cricket  seen.  It  was  plentiful  be- 
neath rubbish  in  open  and  cultivated 
grounds. 


224  APPENDIX. 

A  LIST  OF  THE  HBMIPTERA-HBTEROPTERA  TAKEN  IN  THE  VICINITY 
OF  ORMOND,  FLORIDA,  IN  MARCH  AND  APRIL,  1899. 

The  true  bugs  do  not  seem  to  be  plentiful  in  East 
Florida  in  the  early  spring  months.  Representatives 
of  but  twenty  species  were  taken  during  my  stay 
there.  These,  identified  and  listed  according  to 
Uhler's  "Check  List  of  the  Hemiptera-Heteroptera  of 
^N"orth  America/'  are  as  follows: 

1.  Corimelcena  air  a  Am.  et  S.    Several  specimens 

•  were  secured  from  beneath  rubbish  on  April 
2nd.  Its  range  covers  the  entire  United 
States. 

2.  Pangcem  bilineatus  Say.    One  specimen,  March 

25th,  from  beneath  a  log.  It  also  is  a  species 
of  wide  range,  but  is  less  common  than  the 
preceding. 

3.  Stiretrus  anchorago  Fab.    A  single  example  was 

taken  April  3rd,  on  flowers  of  a  Senecio. 
While  usually  accredited  to  the  Southern 
States,  it  has  been  taken  as  far  north  as 
southern  Indiana,  where  it  occurs  in  small 
numbers. 

4.  Eucliistus  servus  Say.      Several  specimens  of 

this  common  species  were  taken  from  oak 
leaves  on  April  2nd,  and  on  dates  thereafter. 

5.  Euchistus  variolarius  Pal.  Beauv.     One  from 

a  leaf  of  thistle,  on  March  24th.  It  also  is  a 
species  of  wide  distribution. 


HEMIPTEEA-HE  TEROPTERA.  225 

6.  TJiyanta  custator  Fab.    One,  March  13th,  from 

bracts  of  thistle.  Ranges  over  the  entire 
United  States,  but  in  my  experience  is  no- 
where common. 

7.  Euthoctha,  galeator  Fab.      Several   specimens 

were  token  from  flowers  of  Senecio,  etc.,  on 
March  22nd  and  later  dates.  It  also  occurs 
throughout  the  United  States. 

8.  Metapodius  femoratus  Fab.     From  leaves  of 

orange  trees  and  other  shrubs,  on  several  oc- 
casions from  April  2nd  on.  South  Atlantic 
and  Gulf  States. 

9.  Leptoglossus  phyllopus  Linn.    On  several  occa- 

sions from  March  13th  onward.  It  has  the 
same  range  as  the  preceding. 

10.  Margus  inornatus  Stal.     Two,  April  4th,  from 

flowers  of  thistle.  One,  April  9th,  from 
those  of  Senecio.  !N"ot  before  recorded  north 
of  Mexico". 

11.  Alydus  pilosulus  H.    Schf.      One,   April  4th, 

from  sandy  bank  along  railway.  Occurs 
throughout  the  eastern  United  States. 

12.  Harmostes  reflexulus   Say.      One,   April  2nd, 

from  beneath  a  pine  log.  Recorded  by  Uhler 
from  the  Western  States.  Frequent  in  Indi- 
ana. 

13.  Melanocoryphus  bicrutis  Say.     Common  after 

March  24th,  on  flowers  of  Senecio  and  other 


15 


226  APPENDIX. 

plants.  Occurs  throughout  the  Southern 
States. 

14.  Atrachelus  cinerem  Fab.     One,  March  30th, 

from  leaf  of  oak  shrub.  It  is  also  a  species 
of  southern  range. 

15.  Zelus  lilobus  Say.    One,  April  9th,  from  a  leaf 

of  the  saw  palmetto.  Its  known  range  is  also 
limited  to  the  south  Atlantic  and  Gulf  States. 

16.  Zelus  cervicalis  Stal.     One,  April  2nd,  from 

flower  of  the  Senecio.  Its  range  is  the  same 
as  that  of  the  previous  species. 

17.  Hammatocerus  purcis  Drury.    Only  nymphs  of 

this  handsome  bug  were  taken.  While  its 
general  range  is  southern,  it  occurs  as  far 
north  as  Crawford  County,  Indiana. 

18.  Easahus  biguttatus  Say.   One,  April  10th,  from 

beneath  a  log.  Uhler  accredits  it  to  the 
Western  States. 

19.  Melanolestes  picipes  H.  Schf.     Several  speci- 

mens were  taken  on  different  dates  from  be- 
neath logs  and  rubbish.  It  appears  to  be  com- 
mon throughout  the  eastern  United  States 
and,  a  few  years  ago,  gained  quite  a  reputa- 
tion as  the  "kissing  bug." 

20.  Soldo,  pallipes  Fab.     Two  from  beneath  logs  in 

damp  sand,  March  21st.  It  is  also  accredited 
by  Uhler  to  the  "Western  States." 


BUTTERFLIES.  227 


A  LIST  OF  THE  BUTTERFLIES  TAKEN  IN  THE  VICINITY  OF  ORMOND, 
FLORIDA,  IN  MARCH  AND  APRIL,  1899. 

I  left  Ormond  on  April  llth,  before  many  of  the 
spring  forms  of  butterflies  had  changed  from  the  lar- 
val and  chrysalis  stages  in  which  they  pass  the  dryer 
months.  The  species  of  Thecla  and  Pamphila,  which 
comprise  a  large  portion  of  the  butterfly  fauna  of  any 
region,  were  just  beginning  to  appear,  and  many 
others,  doubtless  belated  by  the  frosts  and  cold  days 
of  that  season,  were  being  called  into  active  imago 
life,  just  about  the  time  I  was  leaving.  As  a  conse- 
quence, representatives  of  only  27  species  were  taken, 
though  a  number  of  others  were  seen  but  not  cap- 
tured. To  Dr.  Henry  Skinner,  of  Philadelphia,  I 
am  under  obligations  for  verifying  the  species  of 
Nisoniades  and  several  other  of  the  smaller  forms. 
Those  taken  were  as  follows : 

1.  Papilio  ajax  floridensis  Holland.     The  Zebra 

Swallow-tail.  Quite  frequent  in  the  more 
open  forests  after  March  15th.  This  form 
is  said  by  Holland  to  be  "prevalent  in  the 
spring  on  the  St.  John's  River." 

2.  Papilio  troilus  L.  The  Green-clouded  Swallow- 

tail. Common  from  March  6th  on,  about 
flowers  in  the  yards,  and  along  the  roadsides. 
Ranges  throughout  the  Atlantic  and  Gulf 
States  and  Mississippi  Valley. 

3.  Papilio  palamedes  Drury.    The  Southern  Swal- 


228  APPENDIX. 

low-tail.  This  was  by  far  the  most  common 
Papilio  about  Ormond.  On  all  warm  sun- 
shiny days,  when  the  wind  did  not  blow  too 
strongly,  it  was  abundant  about  the  yards  and 
gardens  of  the  town ;  along  the  roadways  and 
in  the  forest  glades;  winging  its  way  from 
clump  to  clump  of  spring  flowers,  or  courting 
coquettishly  in  the  air.  The  first  specimen 
was  seen  on  March  8th.  It  ranges  from 
southern  Virginia  to  South  Florida,  and  west- 
ward to  southern  Missouri  and  Texas. 

4.  Papilio  turnus  Linn.     The  Tiger  Swallow-tail. 

Several  specimens  were  seen  from  March  6th 
on,  but  it  was  at  no  time  as  common  as  in  In- 
diana at  a  corresponding  season.  Ranges 
over  the  entire  eastern  United  States. 

5.  Papilio  cresphontes  Cram.    The  Giant  Swallow- 

tail. This  species  was  noted  from  March 
6th  on,  though  but  few  specimens  were  seen, 
and  they  were  all  smaller  than  the  average 
northern  example.  However,  it  is  said  to  be 
quite  common  later  in  the  season;  the  cater- 
pillar, known  as  the  " Orange-puppy,"  at 
times  doing  much  damage  to  the  foliage  of 
orange  trees.  While  generally  southern  in  its 
range  it  has  been  taken  in  northern  Indiana 
and  even  in  Ontario. 

6.  Callidryas  eubule  L.     The  Cloudless  Sulphur. 

Began  to  emerge  on  March  llth,  and  was 


BUTTERFLIES.  229 

quite  common  thereafter  in  the  old  orange 
orchard  and  about  the  flowers  of  the  shrubby 
buckeye,  .ZEsculus  pavia  L.  Ranges  from 
K"ew  England  and  Wisconsin  to  Patagonia 
and  west  as  far  as  southern  California. 

7.  Colias  ccesania  Stoll.     The  Dog's  Head  Butter- 

fly. One,  April  10th,  from  open  pine  woods. 
Ranges  from  central  Indiana  south  and  south- 
west to  Orizaba,  Mexico. 

8.  Agraulis  vanillce  L.    The  Gulf  Fritillary.    This 

species  was  rather  common  from  March  6th 
on,  in  forest  roadways  and  old  deserted 
orange  groves.  Its  range  is  from  Virginia 
southwest  to  Old  Mexico,  and  north  as  far  as 
southern  Indiana. 

9.  Phyciodes  phaon  Edw.      The  Gulf  Crescent. 

A  single  specimen  was  secured  on  April  3rd. 
Its  known  range  is  limited  to  the  Gulf  States 
and  Kansas. 

10.  Pyrameis  atalania  L.    The  Red  Admiral.    This 

showy  species  was  seen  on  various  occasions 

after  March  14th.     Its  range  is  the  entire 

United  States,  it  having  been  probably  intro- 

>       duced  from  Europe,  where  it  is  also  common. 

11.  Pyrameis  huntera  Fab.     The  Painted  Beauty. 

Several  were  seen  on  April  4th  and  dates 
thereafter,  in  old  fields  and  along  the  rail- 
way. It  also  ranges  over  the  entire  United 
States. 


230  APPENDIX. 

12.  Junonia  ccenia  Hub.     The  Buckeye.     A  few 

worn  specimens' were  seen  on  March  7th  and 
later  dates.  They  were  probably  those  of  a 
fall  brood  which  had  hibernated.  The  spe- 
cies ranges  across  the  continent  but  is  found 
in  numbers  only  southward. 

13.  Neonympha  gemma  Hub.  The  G-emmed  Brown. 

This  modest  mouse  gray  butterfly  was  taken 
in  small  numbers  on  March  22nd  and  once 
or  twice  thereafter,  but  was  much  less  com- 
mon than  its  companion  species.  Like  them 
it  frequents  woodland  paths  and  roadsides, 
and  is  seldom  seen  in  open,  sunny  places, 
where  most  other  butterflies  delight  to  wan- 
der. It  is  a  southern  form,  ranging  through 
the  Coast  and  Gulf  States  from  "West  Vir- 
ginia to  Mexico. 

14.  Neonympha  eurytus  Fab.     The  Wood  Nymph. 

This  species  was  first  seen  on  March  20th. 
It  soon  became  very  common,  and  more  of 
them  were  taken  than  of  any  other  butterfly. 
Its  range  covers  the  eastern  United  States 
as  far  as  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

15.  Neonympha    sosybius    Fab.      The    Carolinian 

Satyr.  This,  the  smallest  of  the  three  Neo- 
nymphas  taken,  was  common  throughout  my 
stay  at  Ormond,  having  been  first  noted  on 
March  6th.  Its  range  is  from  New  Jersey 
southward  to  Central  America. 


BUTTERFLIES.  231 

16.  Calephelis  ccenius  L.     The  Little  Metal  Mark. 

This  little  reddish  brown  species  was  rather 
common  about  cultivated  flowers  from  April 
2nd  on.  Its  range  is  from  Virginia  south 
and  west  to  Texas. 

17.  Thecla  poeas  Hub.     The  Least  Purple  Hair 

Streak.  This  was  the  only  member  of  the 
genus  taken,  though  others  were  seen  which 
escaped  the  net.  A  single  specimen  was 
taken  from  the  flowers  of  Senecio  on  April 
3rd.  It  ranges  from  the  Gulf  as  far  north  as 
Indiana  and  West  Virginia. 

18.  Pamphila    zabulon    Bd.-Lec.      The    Mormon. 

This  species  was  first  seen  on  March  17th. 
It  is  evidently  in  Florida,  as  in  Indiana,  one 
of  the  first,  if  not  the  first  Pamphila  to  reach 
maturity.  It  and  its  varieties  range  through- 
out the  Mississippi  Valley  from  Canada  to 
the  Gulf. 

19.  Pamphila  maculata  Edw.     The  Twin-spot.     A 

single  example  was  captured  on  April  4th. 
It  is  a  southern  species  which  is  occasionally 
found  as  far  north  as  New  York. 

20.  Nisoniades  icelus  Lint.     The  Dreamy  Dusky- 

wing.  Several  were  taken  on  March  27th 
and  dates  thereafter.  Its  range  includes  al- 
most the  entire  United  States. 

21.  Nisoniades  somnus  Lint.     The  Dark  Dusky- 

wing.     This  is  a  closely  allied  species  to  the 


232  APPENDIX. 

preceding,  and  may  be  only  a  larger  southern 
form.  It  was  taken  in  small  numbers  from 
March  23rd  on.  Heretofore  it  has  been 
known  only  from  the  Indian  River,  140 
miles  farther  south. 

22.  Nisoniades  ncevius  Lint.    Nsevius'  Dusky-wing. 

This  species  was  first  taken  on  March  12th, 
and  occasionally  thereafter.  It,  too,- has  been 
taken  before  only  on  the  Indian  River. 

23.  Nisoniades  juvenalis  Fab.     Juvenal's  Dusky- 

wing.  A  few  specimens  were  secured  on 
March  23rd.  Its  range  is  over  the  greater 
part  of  the  eastern  United  States.  The  hab- 
its of  these  four  species  of  Nisoniades  are  es- 
sentially the  same.  They  frequent  the  bor- 
f  ders  of  woodland  paths  and  sandy  roadways; 

seldom  rise  more  than  a  foot  above  the  earth, 
and  when  disturbed,  move  in  a  strong  and 
rapid  flight  a  rod  or  two  distant  and  then 
alight. 

24.  Pholisura    hayliurstii    Edw.       The    Southern 

Sooty-wing.  This  little  species  was  frequent 
in  damp,  sandy  places  along  roadsides  from 
March  23rd  on.  Its  range  is  over  the  south- 
ern half  of  the  eastern  United  States  as  far 
north  as  central  Indiana. 

25.  Eudamus    pylades     Scudd.       The     Northern 

Dusky-wing.  This  was  a  common  species 
throughout  my  stay  at  Ormond,  having  been 


COLEOPTEEA.  233 

noted  the  first  day  I  arrived.  It  frequents 
gardens  and  the  borders  of  roadways.  Its 
range  includes  Canada  and  the  eastern 
United  States. 

26.  Eudamus  tityrus  Fab.     The  Silver-spot.     Fre- 

quent about  yards  and  orchards  from  March 
25th  on.  Its  range  includes  the  whole  United 
States. 

27.  Eudamus  proteus  L.    The  Long-tailed  Skipper. 

This  species  was  also  first  seen  on  March 
25th,  and  became  common  before  I  left.  It 
frequents  roadsides  and  cultivated  grounds, 
and  ranges  from  New  York  south  and  south- 
west to  Central  America. 


A  LIST  OF  THE  COLEOPTERA  TAKEN  IN  THE  VICINITY  OF  ORMOND, 
FLORIDA,  IN  MARCH  AND  APRIL,  1899. 

As  already  noted,  p.  51,  the  number  of  species  of 
mature  Coleoptera  about  Ormond  in  the  early  spring 
months  is  limited.  Representatives  of  but  fifty-five 
were  secured.  These  are  listed  herewith  according  to 
the  nomenclature  of  Henshaw's  "List  of  the  Coleop- 
tera of  America  North  of  Mexico."  Species  preceded 
by  an  asterisk  are  not  included  in  Schwarz's  "Coleop- 
tera of  Florida.77*  Thanks  are  due  Mr.  H.  F.  Wick- 
ham,  of  Iowa  City,  Iowa,  for  aid  in  determining  and 
verifying  the  species  taken. 

*  Proo.  Amer.  Philos.  Soc.,  1878,  p.  353  et.  seq. 


234  APPENDIX. 

1.  Cicindela  unicolor  Dej.     But  two  specimens 

taken,  a  male  on  March  12th  and  a  female, 
April  10th.  Both  from  sandy  pathways  in 
the  woods. 

2.  *Calosoma  scrutator  Fab.     Two  from  borders 

of  woods,  crawling  on  the  ground — April  1  st- 
and April  4th. 

3.  Pasimachus  marginatus  Fab.     Two  on  March 

24th  from  beneath  logs  in  the  open  pine 
woods. 

4.  Pasimachus  subsulcatus  Say.     Four  from  be- 

neath a  chunk  on  April  6th. 

5.  Scarites  subterraneus  Fab.     One  from  beneath 

log. 

6.  Morio    monilicornis    Lat.      Frequent    beneath 

bark  of  pine  logs  and  snags;  March  15th, 
17th,  25th. 

7.  *Pterostichus  submarginatus  Say.     Two  from 

beneath  bark  of  pine  logs.  One,  March  24th, 
immature ;  the  other  April  8th.  Dr.  Schwarz 
lists  but  one  species,  viz.,  P.  acutangulus 
Chal.,  of  this  genus  from  the  State.  Twenty- 
three  have  been  taken  by  me  in  Indiana; 
showing  that  the  genus  is  one  of  northern 
range. 

8.  *Diplochila  laticollis  Lee.     One  specimen  on 

March  17th  from  beneath  bark.  Both  Dr. 
Schwarz  and  Dr.  Hamilton  list  the  variety 
D.  major  Lee. 


COLEOPTEEA.  235 

9.  *HeUuomorp~ha  ferruginea  Lee.  Six  were  se- 
cured beneath  a  pine  log  in  the  open  woods  on 
March  24th. 

10.  * Anisodactylus  rusticus  Dej.     One  beneath  a 

log  on  April  1st. 

11.  *Anisodactylus  terminatus   Say.      Several,  on 

March  24th  and  April  1st,  from  beneath  bark 
of  logs. 

12.  Staphylinus    tomentosus    Grav.      One,    March 

17th,  from  beneath  bark. 

13.  Belonuchus  formosus  Grav.     One,  April  2nd, 

from  beneath  bark. 

14.  Bledius  basalis  Lee.     Several,  April  2nd,  from 

a  fungus. 

15.  Languria   marginipennis   Sz.      A   number   on 

April  2nd,  from  the  flowers  of  a  Senecio. 

16.  *Penthelispa    hcematodes    Fab.      One,    March 

25th,  from  beneath  pine  bark. 

17.  Ulster  sp.  ?    Several,  March  6th,  from  beneath 

pine  bark. 

18.  Hister  sp.?     One,  March  16th,  from  beneath 

pine  bark. 

19.  Tenebrioides  semicylindrica  Horn.    One,  April 

1st,  from  beneath  a  chunk. 

20.  *Adelocera  discoidea  Web.     One,  March  25th, 

from  beneath  bark. 

21.  Alaus  my  ops  Fab.     Common  on  various  dates 

from  beneath  bark. 

22.  Dicera  lurida  Fab.    One,  March  25th,  from  be- 

neath bark. 


236  APPENDIX. 

23.  Chauliognathusmarginatus^Sib.  Common  April 

2nd,  on  flowers  of  Senecio. 

24.  Polemius  sp.f     One,  April  2nd,  on  flowers  of 

Senecio. 

25.  Polemius  sp.?    One,  April  10th,  on  flowers  of 

Senecio. 

26.  *Canthon  Icevis  Drury.     One,  April  1st,  from 

horse  manure.  Dr.  Schwarz  lists  five  spe- 
cies, but  this  is  not  among  them. 

27.  Phanceus  carnifex  Linn.    One,  April  4th,  from 

effete  matter. 

28.  Phanceus  igneus  MacL.     On  several  occasions, 

from  March  17th  on,  from  horse  dung.  Var- 
ies much  in  color. 

29.  Diplotaxis  languida  Lee.    Two,  April  1st,  from 

leaves  of  scrub  oak. 

30.  Orthosoma  brunneum  Forst.     One,  April  10th, 

from  the  leaf  of  a  shrub.  The  punctations 
on  head,  thorax  and  elytra  are  noticeably 
fewer  and  smaller  than  in  northern  speci- 
mens; the  surface  is,  therefore,  much 
smoother. 

31.  Lema  ephippiata  Lac.     A  single  specimen  was 

taken  April  4th,  from  the  blossom  of  a  thistle. 

32.  *Bassareus  croceipennis  Lee.     One,  April  2nd, 

from  flowers  of  Senecio.  Listed  from  Lake 
Worth,  Florida,  by  Dr.  Hamilton. 

33.  *Bassareus  lituratus  Fab.     One,  March  25th, 

from  leaf  of  saw  palmetto. 


COLEOPTERA.  237 

34.  Cryptocephalus  guttulatus  Oliv.      One,   April 

1st,  from  leaf  of  oak  shrub. 

35.  Cryptocephalus  bivius  !N"ewm.     One,  April  1st, 

from  leaf  of  oak. 

36.  *Disonycha  glabrata  Fabr.     One,  April  2nd, 

from  leaf  of  oak  shrub. 

37.  Porphyraspis  cyanea  Say.     Several  on  March 

26th,  on  leaves  of  saw  palmetto. 

38.  Coptocycla  guttata  Oliv.     One,   March   27th, 

from  leaf  of  oak  shrub. 

39.  *Chelymorpha  argus  Licht.     One,  March  26th, 

from  leaf  of  oak  shrub.  Smaller  and  black 
spots  less  prominent  than  in  northern  speci- 
mens. 

40.  Polypleurus  nitidus  Lee.     One,  March  29th, 

beneath  log  in  pine  barren. 

41.  Ny ct  abates  pennsylvanica  DeG.     Frequent  be- 

neath bark  of  pine  and  other  logs. 

42.  Nyctobates  barbata  Knoch.    Frequent  with  the 

preceding. 

43.  *0patrinus  aciculatus  Lee.     One,  March  17th, 

from  beneath  a  chunk. 

44.  Tharsus   seditiosus    Lee.      One,    March    25th, 

from  beneath  pine  bark. 

45.  *Uloma  imberbis  Lee.     One,  March  17th,  be- 

neath a  log. 

46.  Uloma  punctulata  Lee.     Common,  March  17th, 

and  other  dates  beneath  bark  of  dead  pines. 

47.  Platydema    erythrocerum    Lap.      One    March 

25th,  beneath  bark  of  pine  log. 


238  APPENDIX. 

48.  Platydema  flavipes  Fab.    One,  with  the  preced- 

ing. 

49.  Arthromacra  gagatina  Melsh.     Three,  one  pair 

in  copulation,   March   22nd,   from  beneath 
bark  of  pine  logs. 

50.  *Eustrophus    tomentosus    Say.      One,    March 

25th,  from  beneath  log. 

51.  Attelabus  analis  111.     One,  March  28th,  from 

leaf  of  oak. 

52.  Notolomus  basalis  Lee.     Several,  March  13th, 

on  flowers  of  thistle. 

53.  CJialcodermus  collaris  Horn.   One,  March  13th, 

beneath  board. 

54.  Centrinus  sp.  ?    One,    March  23rd,  from  flower 

of  thistle. 

55.  Sphenophorus  sculptilis  Uhl.   One,  March  15th, 

from  beneath  log. 


INDEX. 


PAGE 

Abbott,  G.  C.,  quoted 7 

Allen,  James  Lane,  quoted 11 

Alligators 93,  143,  159,  210 

American  Locust 31,  51 

Ant  Lion,  Young  of 139 

Auk,  Great 175 

Bartram,  quoted 38,  52,  111,  160,  200 

Bear,  Black  or  Brown 158 

Beetles  of  Florida 50,  55,  57,  66,  96,  103,  122, 

133,  135,  136,  147,  154 

Bittern 199 

Buckeye,  Shrubby 66, 

Bugs,  True 57,  58,  134,  137,  147 

Butterflies  about  Onnond 29,  31,  34,  41,  48,  73,  81,  90, 

100,  130,  155,  156,  193 

Butterflies,  Brown  Skipper . 155 

Buckeye 34 

Dog's  Head 193 

Giant  Swallow-tail 30,34 

Little  Metal  Mark 156 

Painted  Beauty 155 

Red  Admiral 67 

Silver  Spot 155 

Sulphur  Yellow 48 

Tailed  Skipper 100 

Tiger  Swallow-tail 81 

Wood  Brown 90 

Zebra  67,  130 

Butterflies,  List  of 227 

(239) 


240  INDEX. 

PAGE 

Cabbage  Palmetto 16,  77,  203,  209 

Cabin,  A  Deserted 124 

Carrion  Crow 19,  209 

Centipede 43,  99 

Chamaeleon 26,  52,  139,  141 

Chattanooga,  Tennessee 15 

Chipmunk 13 

Chrysomelid  Beetles 103,  147 

Click  Beetles 55 

Cockroaches 29,  44,  73,  78,  86 

Coleoptera,  List  of 233 

Cooters 93 

Cope,  E.  D.,  quoted 76 

Coquina  Clams 42 

Limestone 109 

Cormorants 92 

Crabs,  Fiddler  63 

Hermit 42 

King 60 

Cranesbill,  Carolina 86 

Crickets,  Field 78,  116 

Ground 40 

Mole 84 

Sand-burrowing 129 

Cross  Vine 110 

Crows 27 

Danville,  Kentucky 11 

Death,  Revery  on 112 

Deer,  Virginia 159 

Dog-ticks 100 

Doodle  Bugs 139 

Doves,  Ground 39,  192 

Dragonflies 30,  33,  80,  86,  135,  152,  190,  191,  213 

Drum-fish 132 

Ducks,  Wild 92 

Eagle,  Bald 154,  208 

Earwigs 29 


INDEX.  241 

PAGE 

Egrets,  White,  Slaughter  of 144 

Everett,  Georgia 16 

Fiddler  Crabs 63 

Fish-hawk 32,  63,  94,  154,  190 

Florida,  Railways  of 19 

Scenery  of 21 

Frog,  Leopard 186 

Southern  Cricket 166 

Toothless 75 

Gopher 104 

Guests  of 105 

Grasshopper,  Cone-headed 70 

Ground  Crickets 40 

Doves 39,  192 

Halifax  River 23,  59 

Hammocks 35,  75 

Happy  Family 98 

Hay,  O.  P.,  quoted 157,  178 

Hemiptera-Heteroptera,  List  of 224 

Heron,  Great  Blue 96 

Small  Green 97 

Hills,  Inspiration  of 14 

Holbrook,  quoted 76,  101,  140,  157 

Horse-shoe  Crabs 60 

Hubbard,  H.  G.,  quoted , 105 

Hyacinth,  Water 204 

Jacksonville,  Florida 21 

Jiggers 87 

Remedy  for 89 

Kentucky  Blue-grass 11 

Coffee  Tree 9 

River 10,  12 

Soils  of 13 

16 


242  IXDEX. 

PAGE 

King  Crab 60 

King-fisher 97 

Kinglet,  Golden-crowned 47 

Lexington,  Kentucky 10 

Life,  Revery  on 135 

Live  Oak 110 

Lizard,  Blind 124,  125 

Blue-tailed 46,  73,  74,  77,  82 

Ground  44,  101 

Six-lined 77 

Locusts  of  Florida 81,  34,  48,  84,  115,  138,  149,  192 

Locusts,  Green  Striped 34 

Grouse 129 

Lubberly 80,  150 

Parti-colored 34,  84 

Slender  29,  149 

Loennberg,  Einar,  quoted 187 

Magnolia 80 

Mangrove 59 

Marl,  Formation  of 74 

Michaux,  quoted 17,  118 

Mole  Cricket 84 

Mound,  Shell 165 

Mosquito  Inlet , . . . .  23,  60 

Mullet,  Jumping 131 

Myriapods 43,  46,  99,  103 

Naturalist,  Pleasures  of 71 

Orange  Groves  about  Ormond 32,  37,  83,  136 

Ormond,  Artesian  Water  near 49 

Climate  of 46,  84,  109 

Fishes  taken  near 81,  131 

Hotel 23,  24 

Sea  Beach  of 31,  41,  43,  78,  153 


INDEX.  243 

.PAGE 

Ormond  Shell  Mound 28,  71,  165 

Topography  about 45 

Town  of 23,  25 

Trees  near 40 

Orthoptera,  List  of 216 

Osprey 32,  63,  94,  154,  190 

Palmetto,  Cabbage 16,  77,  203,  209 

Saw 25,  211 

Papaw 67 

Paroquet,  Carolina 158 

Pelican,  Brown 62 

Phlox 86 

Pine  Barren 95 

Pine,  Long-leaved 20,  117 

Yellow 65 

Porpoise 64 

Pottery  in  Ormond  Mound 179 

Pseudo-scorpion 29 

Quails 67 

Rafinesque,  C.  S 10 

Rattlesnake,  Diamond 145,  186 

Ground 188 

Red-bug 87 

Riley,  C.  V. ,  quoted 87 

Sanf  ord 208 

Sand  Burs 33 

Sand-fly '. 109 

Sand  Grains,  Origin  of 123 

Saw  Palmetto 25,  211 

Say,  Thos.,  quoted 62 

Scorpion,  True  .    69 

Whip 68 

Sea  Snails 42 

Trout  .  128 


244  INDEX. 

PAGE 

Shack,  Structure  of 137 

Shell  Mound  of  Ormond 28,  71,  167 

Shells  of  Ormond  Mound 169 

Shufeldt,  quoted 141 

Snails,  Land 46,  78,  184 

Snake  Bird 199 

Snake,  Black 145 

Coral 145,  188 

Ring-necked  82 

Spanish  Chimneys    37 

Moss 20,52 

Spreading  Viper 85 

Spring  Days 65 

Squirrel,  Gray 27,  129 

St.  Augustine,  Florida 22 

Stink-bugs , 57 

St.  John's  River,  A  Day  on 196 

Characteristics  of 196 

Head  Waters  of 197 

Sun 83 

Tar,  How  made  121 

Temperature,  Changes  in 49 

Tennessee  River,  Valley  of 14,  15 

Terrapin,  Dry  Land 104 

Thistles,  Insects  on 57,  147 

Thoreau,  Quotations  from 1,  7,  23,  27,  196 

Ticks,  Wood 100 

Tiger  Beetles 50 

Tomoka  River,  Up  the. 91,  109,  148 

Turpentine,  How  made 119,  121 

Turtle,  Bauer's  Box 152 

Turtles  of  Florida 93,  152 

Vinegerone 68 

Viper,  Spreading 85 

Vireo,  Red-eyed 191 

Vulture,  Black 19 


INDEX.  245 

PAGE 

Warbler,  Blue- winged  Yellow 45 

Prairie 91 

Wardwell,  Captain 59 

Water  Hyacinth 204 

Whip  Scorpions 68 

Wild-cat 102 

Wire  Grass 20,  95 

Woodpecker,  Ivory-billed 158 

Pileated 36,  68,  114,  148 

Zebra 27 

Wood-ticks 100 

Worm  Snake 124,  125 

Wren,  Long-billed  Marsh 39 

Wymaii,  Jeffries,  quoted 164 


Yellow-throat,  Maryland 


Gleanings  te  Nature 


BY 


W.  S.  B LATCH LEY 

State    Geologist  of  Indiana 


Based  upon  facts  gathered  in  the  woods  and  fields  of  Indiana 

during  the  past  ten  years.    348  pages  ;  15  full  page 

half-tone  plates  ;  100  illustrations  in  the 

text;  bound  in  silk  cloth. 


CONTENTS. 


A  REST  BY  THE  BROOKSIDE. 

HARBINGERS  OF  SPRING. 

Two  FOPS  AMONG  THE  FISHES. 

SNAKES. 

A  FEATHERED  MIDGET  AND  ITS 

NEST. 
MID-SUMMER  ALONG  THE  OLD 

CANAL. 

THE  IRON-WEED. 
TEN  INDIANA   CAVES  AND   THE 

ANIMALS  WHICH   INHABIT 

THEM. 


A  DAY  IN  A  TAMARACK  SWAMP. 

MID- AUTUMN  ALONG  THE  OLD 
CANAL. 

KATYDIDS  AND  THEIR  KIN. 

WEEDS  IN  GENERAL  AND  OUR 
WORST  WEEDS  IN  PARTICU- 
LAR. 

TWELVE  WINTER  BIRDS. 

How  PLANTS  AND  ANIMALS 
SPEND  THE  WINTER. 

A  SEEKER  AFTER  GOLD. 


"This  book  can  be  highly  recommended  for  its  honesty  and  directness  of  purpose. 
The  essays  are  truthful  and  give  vivid  touches  of  nature,  the  results  of  close  and  sym- 
pathetic observation."— Dr.  D.  S.Jordan,  in  American  Naturali$t. 

"  It  is  not  only  charming,  but  is  also  infinitely  suggestive.  I  shall  recommend  it  to 
teachers  and  parents  as  one  of  the  most  helpful  books  upon  nature  subjects  yet  pub- 
lished. The  beautiful  form  in  which  the  book  is  issued  is  also  to  be  recommended." — 
Stanley  Coulter. 

[OVER] 


"The  stories  are  simply  told,  and  derive  their  chief  value  from  being  the  outcome 
of  close  personal  contact  with  nature  and  from  their  local  flavor.  The  book  is  to  be 
heartily  recommended  to  the  young  people,  not  only  of  Indiana,  but  of  the  neighboring 
States  to  which  it  is  nearly  as  well  adapted.  It  will  take  them  out  of  doors  on  every 
page  and  awaken  a  new  interest  in  living  nature." — Science. 

"This  book  tells,  in  brief,  more  things  that  amateur  naturalists — and  every  boy  and 
most  adults  are  such — delight  to  know,  and  should  know,  about  the  plant  and  animal 
life  of  Indiana,  than  any  other  book  extant.  It  should  be  in  every  teacher's  reading 
circle  and  accessible  to  every  natural  history  class  in  our  public  schools." — "Dr.  A.  W ' . 
Brayton,  in  Indianapolis  Journal. 

"A  true  outdoor  book,  well  designed  to  increase  the  pleasure  and  interest  of  an  out- 
ing."— F.  M.  Chapman,  in  Bird-Lore. 

"  The  author  is  a  true  naturalist,  and  chapters  written  by  a  man  of  this  kind  are 
worth  reading.  The  book  is  beautifully  illustrated  and  is  well  gotten  up  in  every  way." 
— "Recreation. 

Sent  to  any  address,  postpaid,  on  receipt  of  $i .10 

THE  N4TURE  PUBLISHING  CO., 

1725  Broadway,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 


"A  Nature  Wooing" 

A  COMPANION  VOLUME  TO 

il  Gleanings  from  Nature" 


By  W.  S.  BLATCHLEY 


Pages — many  Plates  and  Illustrations.     Price,  postpaid,  $i .25 
The  t<wo  volumes  to  one  address,  prepaid,  $2.20 
Remit  currency  or  money  order 


THE  NATURE  PUBLISHING  CO., 

1725  Broadway,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 


ENTOMOLOGY  LIB 


